


BTSPN

by Readpink



Category: Supernatural, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bangtan Universe, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Crossover, Fanfiction, OC, bts - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:22:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 70,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25235380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Readpink/pseuds/Readpink
Summary: Myriam had a wonderful job, great friends and something to aspire for in the future for the first time in her long life. BTS promised to be just the greatest boy band in the world and that summer of 2014 they were just getting started. Everything was good until, the part of her past that she had been so desperate to hide came looking for the young boys during the shooting of American Hustle Life. To keep her friends she had to come clean about the truth. Will they accept it? Or will she have to leave?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello, Readpink here I'll be posting every Saturday. I hope you like my story. I would love your feedback. Love to you all.

“I guess you have a right to know. I mean, it’s not every day that you encounter the supernatural this closely. Don’t look at me that way, I promise I’ll explain it as best as I can but I need you to promise me something: you will save your questions till the end and you will allow me to finish the story, deal?”

Seven faces looked confused to each other and finally they nodded. The eighth member in the room sighed deeply, eyes closed, gathering all the ideas and organizing them in a coherent order. The air was filled with silent expectation. All of them were sitting on the comfortable couches, yet they shuffled uneasily, sensing that this was not the kind of story that wraps up with a beautiful bow. This felt dark and sad but they wanted to know everything. No more lies or half truths.

“I was born a very long time ago. It almost feels like an eternity now but I guess it hasn’t been that long yet. I’ve seen so much, learned so much, but it all dulls in comparison of the last decade. This… this is certainly an astronomical event after the other and most of the times I look around and ask myself: is this real? Has this really happened? Each time I find that the answer to both questions is yes and that pains me. All these feels like a wound that hasn’t been able to heal and keeps getting infected. It hurts.

“As fate would have it, I moved to the US in 2005. I wasn’t sure as to why exactly but it felt right at that time. Loup City, Nebraska to be precise. I rented a little place in the outskirts and bought an old car from my neighbor. I love that bad boy. A 1990, silver Chevrolet Camaro. Must admit I was quite intimidated by it in the beginning but we got along just fine. Two doors, black interiors, huge trunk and that beautiful low roar when I start the engine. Anyways, not the point. The important thing here is that the car was old and not in the best condition when I first bought it. That was also perfect because without those imperfections I would probably haven’t met them.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_It was a nice Sunday and I went out for a ride like every week. Used to work as a clerk in a convenience store and had Sundays and Mondays off. Point being, I got farther away than usual this time and, suddenly, my boy starts to make this weird noise slowing down each second until it stops completely. I try to ignite it a couple times but it doesn’t work. I give up._

_For a moment I feel lost but I see a dirt path just off the road to the left. By instinct I take out the keys, close the car and start following the path by foot. It’s perfectly visible so I know that it’s used a lot. That reassures me and I keep going. After a couple minutes, a building is visible. Nothing fancy, a Roadhouse actually. The sign read Harvelle’s and all around it, old cars and rusty trucks were parked._

_I stood right in front of the entrance for a minute before convincing myself that it was all right to go in. Once I crossed those doors, my life changed drastically. All eyes were on me._

_“Hey,” came the voice of a woman behind the counter (the boss, I later learned), “can I help you?”_

_I walked quickly and with my eyes looking everywhere except the owner until I could touch the counter. I gulped._

_“Uhm… well… you see. My car broke down a little way back just wanted to know if I could use your phone.”_

_This lady looked mature, around her forties. She wasn’t especially tall or broad but had a commanding aura around her that transpired respect. She was kind of intimidating to be honest._

_“I’m sorry. A guy smashed it last night. Haven’t got time to replace it yet,” she said honestly sorry. “But, if you don’t mind, my friend here has his way with cars,” she added, nodding to her right._

_There was a middle aged man sitting on the stool. Short beard that covered his face, mustache, cap and a zipper vest; jeans, plaid shirt and a permanent scowl on his face. Everything about him looked worn out and a bit dirty but there was something about his eyes and how the lady looked at him that felt reassuring._

_I smiled, out of instinct I guess and agreed to the offer. The man finished his drink in one go and stood up._

_“Alright. Show me.”_

_We walked to my boy in silence, not even bothering to introduce each other. That was until he saw it._

_“That yours?” there was surprise and a little disbelief in his voice._

_“Yeah. That’s ma boy. He was a bit out of shape in the beginning but the mechanic did a pretty decent job. At least that’s what I thought.”_

_The man asked me to pop open the hood. I did and remained seated inside while the man looked over._

_“Got tools?” he asked._

_Retrieved them from the trunk and stepped back to see him tinker with my boy for a couple more minutes._

_“Well, all in all he did an OK job but he missed the most obvious,” he took something out. “He forgot to replace the filter.”_

_“WHAT?! He said he did change it.”_

_I was surprised and quite angry to be honest. If it weren’t for the man in front of me I would have probably thrown a fit._

_“Got some replacements back at my place but that ain’t close by. I can tow you into town but the filters might take a while to get to you,” he scratched his head._

_“I would appreciate it thanks Mr.…?”_

_“No Mr. Just Bobby, Bobby Singer,” he extended his hand._

_“Pleasure Mis… Bobby,” I almost missed. “I’m Myriam Seol.”_

_“Ain’t that name? You don’t look Korean at all,” he pointed out._

_“I’m not. M-my… husband was,” my voice diminishing as the sentence came to an end._

_“Husband?”_

_I was only able to nod. Now he looked a bit uncomfortable but didn’t push it any further. Instead, he cleared his throat._

_“Well, uhm… let us head back so I can take you home.”_

_Again, we walked to the Roadhouse and I was able to notice a tow truck near the other side. Guess I hadn’t seen it before because the building hid it pretty well._

_“Whoa! So you own a towing service?” I asked._

_“Nah. I own Singer Salvage Yard back in Sioux Falls.”_

_“Sioux Falls? Where is that?”_

_“South Dakota.”_

_“Oh, I see. And, if I may, what are you doing so far away from home?”_

_“Came to visit some ol’ friends,” was his immediate answer._

_He got down the truck and hooked my car. We hadn’t exchanged that many words but I could tell he was lying and that alone bothered me a lot. Considering if I should confront him about it, I came to the conclusion that it was none of my business so I kept quiet just watching him work._

_“Gotta guide me from here miss,” Bobby commented as he got in again._

_I smiled and started with the instructions. Two minutes into the road he startled me with his questions._

_“Been living here long?”_

_“Uhm, no. Actually it’s only been a few weeks. It’s nice.”_

_“You on your own?”_

_“Yup,” I answered without hesitation._

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wait just a minute!” one of the seven faces interrupted. The storyteller blinked rapidly at the sudden disruption that brought her back to the present.

The young man in question was one of the oldest but was considered the leader of the group. He would stand with pride amongst the others looking after them like a loving dad. Myriam waited for the question.

“You told a complete stranger that you lived alone? Not only that, you guided him to your home?” his dad instincts had kicked in and Myriam had to contain a smile.

“Yeah,” was her blunt answer.

Some eyebrows were raised but nothing else was said from any of the males. Myriam saw some doubt in the leader’s eyes. 

“I had a good feeling about him Namjoon,” she shrugged, “and besides, there is nothing he could have done to harm me.”

Namjoon gulped a little but the girl ignored it and kept going.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“You make sure you lock well doors and windows at night,” Bobby said with a serious face._

_I remember smiling sadly at his advice._

_“Are you talking about the mysterious disappearances in the next county?”_

_“Ya’ know about those?”_

_“I read the papers. So far five people have gone missing. Four young women and a man in his 40’s. No signs of forced entry, struggle or clue as to where they could have all gone. But one of the weirdest part of the case is that three of the missing disappeared the same night and the other two vanished the next day.”_

_“You’re pretty well informed.”_

_“It’s a small town. Not a lot happens around. Something like this is huge news.”_

_“Thought you said you had only lived here a couple of weeks.”_

_“Yeah but it’s not my first time in a small community. They all work more or less the same way.”_

_Bobby agreed with a side nod and a quick eyebrow movement._

_“How did you learn about it from all the way in South Dakota? It’s not like it made it to the big news.”_

_“My friend Ellen back at the Roadhouse was telling me.”_

_He lied again._

_The rest of the trip we continued in silence. I didn’t want to be rude and it appeared as if Bobby had run out of things to say._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Believe me when I tell you that I have never lied. If I feel like I can’t or shouldn’t speak about something, I rather not talk about it at all rather than lie. I also hate being lied to and prefer to assess the situation instead of being rude but that I think you already knew.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Before I knew it, I was home. Bobby unhooked my boy and commented that he would send the filter when he got back to Sioux Falls. I thanked him and waved him goodbye._

_Two nights later it happened. I was comfortably putting my feet up against the wall after a 12 hr. shift, waiting for my tea to be ready when I heard a scratch against my door. It was very faint at first. The second time was a bit louder but by the third scratch I was already at the door._

_A dog. Who would have guessed? It was a gorgeous black husky with a white spot on his right eye. Let me be honest, my first impulse was to embrace it. I tried to recall anyone I knew so far that had a dog like this. I couldn’t and the lack of a collar indicated it was most likely a stray._

_Still, when I hugged it, I noticed something odd. Consider this, if a dog is a stray, it usually either avoids contact or gives in entirely. This dog seeked my attention but stiffened at my touch. Almost as if my love caused him disgust but it had to allow itself to be touched._

_Strange._

_Anyways, I let him in, fed him some ham I had around and prepared him a bed to sleep in with an old rug and some blankets I had around. That was another thing. Usually dogs are love seekers and will try to cuddle with you as much as the can, specially the strays that have just been rescued. This husky didn’t even try. I became suspicious._

_I went to sleep around 11, or was it midnight, hmph, … I don’t remember that well. But the important thing here is that I woke up a few hours later because I felt a cold breeze. As I walked out of my room I could see the main door wide open, a black van just outside._

_Next thing I remember is feeling my hands tied to my back, my ankles too, gagged as a final touch. To be honest I was a little surprised they had acted so fast. It meant they were pros or, at the very least, they had enough practice to feel confident. I was absolutely positive that these men were the responsible for the other disappearances. What I wasn’t sure was how many more of them were in the pack._

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“See!!” Namjoon interrupted again. “That’s exactly why you don’t trust strangers.”

Myriam smiled and countered, “Why’s that according to you?”

“W-well… y-you said… Ah!” he made a face of defeat. “Keep going!”

She giggled before continuing. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_To keep it short, I ended up in the middle of the woods, surrounded by five more men (plus the two in the van), among a group of four women (which I assumed were the missing girls), a corpse and a pretty heated discussion._

_“You’ll just have to friggin share this time,” one was saying. Not very tall but quite bulky._

_“Why me?! I shared last time too,” a second scrawny man replied. “The boss had his meal and now you’re telling me there’s no more time to get one more?”_

_“Look man I don’t make the rules, I’m just informing. We’re out. That hunter is on our heels. He already got Trent and you know it.”_

_“And now the boss has taken off. On his own!”_

_“Look Chett, own it and leave it. We gotta eat before he gets here. We’ll take care of him quick and you may have the rest.”_

_“HEY!! Not fair!! What about me? I’m the one who’s gotta share with that moron!!” a third man said._

_“You want old man for dinner?”_

_The third just gave the first a disgusted look and said no more. The others were still arguing when I stopped paying attention. Their squabble was boring so I focused on the other victims. The ladies were terrified. Three of them were crying through the gags, the other one was in a, seemingly, perpetual state of shock. Eyes wide open, body trembling and completely mute._

_I felt sorry for them all. No one should go through something like that, supernatural or not. Yet, here we were. Anyways, I started fidgeting restlessly to get their attention. One of my captors from the van noticed._

_“Stop it. You’re making me nervous,” he said aggressively. He was tall, with broad shoulders, black stubble and dark hair._

_I guess this rude/violent behavior of his had worked for him in the past but I’d heard worse so I kept going at it._

_“I said,” he lifted me from the collar of my pj’s, “STOP IT!!”_

_“Mek me,” I defied through the gag._

_“Guys! We have a live one!”_

_To my surprise, he took the piece of cloth out of my mouth. Guess he knew I wasn’t going to scream. Which I didn’t, there was no need really._

_“So you wish to die first, huh?” the... lets call him Beta, asked threateningly._

_“Die? By your hands? I don’t think so.”_

_“You’ve no idea who we are but consider it an honor to die for the pack,” Beta kept going._

_“An honor? Dying for mutts is an honor? Well, I guess it depends on the mutt but you lot certainly do not make it into that category.”_

_Some looked surprised, some even offended._

_“You’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” Beta seemed a tad nervous._

_“Skinwalkers,” I replied in a soft tone._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Now, before you ask. A skinwalker is like a distant cousin of the werewolves but there are a couple of significant differences to them. Firstly, they do not need a full moon to transform. Skinwalkers can shapeshift at any time of the day regardless of the time of the month. The second main difference is that they do not get wolf characteristics but they rather transform into dogs. Hence the strange, non-violent abductions. Who would doubt of a lovely dog in need? But just like their cousins, they feed mostly on human hearts and livers. Some develop a taste for a special kind of prey. Call it kids, young females, mature men, things of the like. They claim all of them have a unique taste so it is up (mostly) to the Alpha of the pack to decide on the kind of prey they will attack. Moving on.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Everyone froze for a second, followed by a raucous of voices that all spoke at the same time. One of them even tried to lunge forwards. Beta stopped him and that was their doom._

_I remember looking down at this point. I needed to focus a little for the next part. Took one deep breath and began the chanting under my breath. When the pack realized what I was up to, it was too late. The high pitch in their ears had begun and, with their enhanced senses it was near fatal. Five of them were laying on the ground, heads down, blood dripping from their ears. The other two howled out in pain, on their knees, hands on the side of their heads, unable to move._

_I think that’s about the time I heard the first shot._


	2. Chapter 2

_One by one the skinwalkers fell dead to the ground, leaving only the screams of the girls in the background. I looked up at the same time the shooter came out of the woods. I think you have figured out who that was but I’ll say it anyways: Bobby Singer._

_He stood there for a moment, studying the faces of the young ladies until he stopped his eyes on me just a moment longer than the rest. Then he got close to the first girl, a knife in his hand. Of course she freaked out just by the sight of it but Bobby worked quickly nonetheless._

_“It’s ok. You’ll be ok now,” he repeated every now and then._

_He finished with the fourth girl and turned to me a bit dubious. I don’t remember exactly but I think I smiled at him. I could notice his tension though I really didn’t mean any harm. He cut me loose and the six of us left hurriedly. There was nothing left to do for the guy._

_We dropped the girls at Loup City’s clinic but since I looked and felt fine, I asked for a ride home from Bobby. He agreed after a minute of doubt. He’s the kind of person to distrust everything and everyone, though I can’t blame him if we consider his line of work._

_Anyhow, the ride was silent but I could feel his questions piling up. Wonder if as many as yours. So I simply threw in:_

_“Ask”_

_“Who are you? Really,” he continued without hesitation._

_“I’m Myriam Seol.”_

_“Oh, I’m sorry for my poor choice of words,” he said sarcastically. “I meant: what are you?”_

_“I’m a witch,” I countered after a second of consideration._

_“No mere witch can do what you did with that lot.”_

_“Of course she can! With the right spell and a good guidance, it’s more than possible to execute the auditory attack spell.”_

_“Guidance?” he asked incredulous._

_“Having a good teacher is indeed important,” I said smiling._

_We arrived at my place yet, it was obvious that Bobby wasn’t over so I remained seated. Waiting. He seemed a little bit torn on whether he should keep on asking or shoot me right then and there._

_“How old are you?” he finally asked._

_“Mmm... a bit hard to answer because of the changes in the calendar but I think I was born somewhere around the 1390’s in what today is Turkey. As far as I can remember, it was my mom and I since the beginning. She was the one to teach me.”_

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“1390!!” one male exclaimed.

“Somewhere around it, yeah,” Myriam replied patiently.

“But… that would make you over half a century old!! How?” he kept going with his eyes extremely wide open (totally opposite as to when he laughed).

His mouth, even though just somewhat open, showed the cute and slightly twisted tooth on his upper part. He huffed a little as if to let some steam out and waited for an answer to come from Myriam making his chubby cheeks to vibrate with every hard breath. 

“There are three kinds of witches in this world, please pay attention to this. Even though it will not guarantee that you find a good witch with this information, it may give you an idea of how far they may go for power,” Myriam paused to make sure everyone still followed. “Ok, the first kind involve those who will make a demon deal in exchange for magic. These people don’t live too long because the average deal is only valid for a ten-year period so, meh. Unless, of course, the person is very skilled and is able to break their deal without losing power. The success rate though is very low.

“The second type of witches involve those who are chosen by veterans and become apprentices. They usually are the least powerful but the craftiest for they have to make up for their weaknesses. They are also more likely to make a deal with a demon. You better believe me when I tell you that witchy bullying is a thing. 

“Finally, the third kind are those who are naturally born with magic. It may be a bloodline thing or a dormant ability that may or may not manifest itself for generations. This are the kind of witches that believe themselves to be the elite. They can either precede or be part of a coven. They are the ones everyone else despises but they are also their ideal. There are hierarchies according to the age, number of active witches’ generation and a bunch of other stuff that is not that relevant to the story.”

“Soooooo…,” Jimin kept going, “you are a…?”

Myriam couldn’t hold back a giggle and then sighed.

“Does it matter?”

“YOU JUST SAID IT DOES!!” he kept going, making a pout with his plump lips and making good use of those adorable, big cheeks of his. 

“You’re learning,” she said pleased and sighed again, “I’m a third but not the point. The important thing here is that it was my mom who taught me the basics. You have no idea of just how much I miss her.”

Myriam had a sad smile on her face and no one wanted to be the one to ask, so Namjoon ventured.

“How is it possible that you are here and she is not if both of you are witches?”

“Most can control how long they want to live. Of course it also depends on how powerful the witch is to maintain the spell or spells for a prolonged amount of time. Others may just choose to be content with the normal lifetime that was given to them in the first place and die of natural causes at the end. Some are also murdered. Killing a witch is not always easy but it is possible and witching community is as vulnerable as any other supernatural specie to be hunted down. 

“She… well, I think that’s a story for another day. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even tell you what it was like to grow up as a Yörük back in the day, for now let us focus with this. Where was I? … Ah! Right, Bobby. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“But don’t worry. It’s been just myself for a while now,” I told him._

_“You expect me to believe there is no coven to back you up?”_

_“Well, more than expect I was sort of hoping. I’m fully aware that you can’t trust me right away. I hope one day you might?”_

_He looked at me suspiciously but he had nothing to go on to doubt my words. I took his silence as my cue to leave so, before getting down I scribbled my number on a paper bag forgotten in his truck for a while._

_“Here, my number. If you ever need help with a case, please, call me.”_

_I got down and had taken a couple of steps when he called back._

_“Expect your delivery in ten days or less.”_

_Took me by surprise to be honest but by the time I had turned around, Bobby had ignited his truck, eyes on the road. I saw him drive away with the feeling of having made a new friend._

_It wasn’t until various months later that I got a call._

_“Hey Bobby! Long time no speak. Thanks for the filter.”_

_“Oh, that, yeah, no problem. Listen, I… uhm… gotta favor to ask.”_

_“Uhm, sure. I’ll be glad to help if I can.”_

_“You see, there are these friends of mine that are in urgent need of a healer. Do you know of any decent ones? ‘Cause right now they’re on their way to Nebraska following a lead.”_

_“Here in Nebraska? Hadn’t heard about it. You know where they’re heading? I might be able to help,” I said quite serious._

_“Last I heard, Ford City was their goal.”_

_“I hear you. I’ll call you back when I get there.”_

_“Fine, I’ll try to figure out where these idjits are staying.”_

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We hung up and I started driving. It was pretty late so there was no one around. I felt free to speed up. You may think it crazy to jump into my car, leave everything behind in the middle of the night after this kind of call, but you need to understand that I work with my gut. If something feels right, I’ll just go along with it. Answering this call felt right so I rolled with it. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Anyhow, I got to Ford City after an hour or so and went straight to the address Bobby had texted me. Turned out to be a cheap motel. It didn’t look that bad and I guess I’ve had worse. He had also told me to look out for a black, Chevrolet Impala._

_I must admit that I’d never seen this kind of car before so I kind of went with my logic here. After getting a room, I looked around the parking lot but found no black Chevrolets. With no more leads for the moment, I went to my bedroom to wait._

_I think I was there for almost two hours before I heard an engine, and I mean, a very loud engine, coming into the lot. Curiosity got the best of me. I just had to peak out to know that was the car Bobby told me about. It parked and from it, two men got out. These were really tall men. Even taller than Namjoon._

_For some reason, I found my heart pounding real fast and could barely wait for them to get into their room so I had the chance to approach them. Something as simple as walking to my door resulted pretty difficult due to my knees’ trembling. Took me around ten minutes to make it to their room. I sighed and, finally, knocked with a little shake of my hand._

_A good minute went by before anyone even responded._

_“Yes?” a husky voice asked._

_“I… uhm… I’m a… Bobby sent me,” I struggled._

_Bobby’s name was like the password and the door was opened by a man with short hair, clean face and amazingly green eyes. I’m not going to lie he was a very handsome young man. Pretty factions, nice proportions. To be honest, he still is very handsome although you can see clearly how time has affected him and his brother._

_Speaking of which, I saw him standing up from one of the chairs in the kitchenette. He was even taller than the green-eyed man, he had longer hair but a clean face as well and appeared to be a bit younger. They both looked healthy enough to me so I wasn’t sure as to why they needed a healer._

_“Uhm… hi,” I said a bit shy. They both had a very impressive and commanding aura so I started fidgeting with my tesbih._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m sorry. Your what?” Namjoon asked. 

“My beads bracelet,” Myriam responded waving her left wrist to show said bracelet. “I’ve had it since I was born. According to my mom, this was my dad’s only gift before he left us.”

“You’ve had it this long?” Jimin questioned in a much calmer tone now.

“Yup. Preservation spell and voilà. It’s a pretty handy spell to be honest,” she continued while holding her arm out so the guys could inspect the thing more closely. “As you can see, it’s nothing fancy, just kuka seeds.”

“And this weird signs carved into the seeds? Do they mean anything?” Namjoon asked again.

“As perceptive as always Namjoon,” she smiled in a knowing way. “All in good time. But I drifted away from the story again. Where was I? Ah, yeah! The guys. Well, I was overwhelmed by their presence so I started to repeat to them what Bobby had told me.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 _“Uh huh. And to all this, who are you?” the oldest grumbled after a moment not taking his eyes off of me._

_“Oh! Sorry. My name is Myriam Seol. I’m a witch.”_

_That alone seemed to tense them so I kept going._

_“I helped Bobby with a case a couple of months ago. Skinwalkers, you see. We saved four out of the five victims. I swear I only mean good. I have no deal, no coven. You can also look up strange things happening in or around Loup City, there aren’t any.”_

_For some reason I felt the need of explaining myself, to make them trust me the same way my gut told me to do so. They didn’t relax much but at the very least the older pointed at himself and said:_

_“Dean,” he pointed at the other man. “This is my brother Sam.”_

_“My pleasure. Now tell me, who needs healing?”_

_They looked at each other before answering._

_“My brother needed help but we sort it all out,” Sam said._

_“Oh,” was all I could respond. To be honest, their initial rejection hurt. Still, I couldn’t lose hope with them. “May I ask how?”_

_“Roy Le Grange,” Sam answered, to which Dean added:_

_“Reverend Roy Le Grange.”_

_“Humph. I’d never heard of him before. Though it is true that I haven’t lived in the US for that long. Can you please tell me why you were in need of a healer?”_

_“Dean and I were hunting a rawhead and he was accidentally electrocuted. Doctors said it damaged his heart and only had a few more weeks. We come here, attend Reverend’s service, he chooses Dean. Next thing we know Dean is on the floor but healing. We’re going to the hospital tomorrow just to make sure.”_

_“I see. Anything particular about the ritual? A weird prayer? Something?”_

_“No,” was Sam’s answer. He sounded disappointed._

_That was very strange. A power like that is extremely rare among humans. To be honest, I thought we were dealing with a very powerful and skilled warlock who could even manage speechless magic. Yet, somehow I doubted my own theory._

_As scheduled, the brothers went to the hospital while I waited in my room. It might have been two or three hours when Sam arrived at the motel, books and notes under his arms. I joined him as soon as I saw him. Like a puppy who sees her master arrive._

_“So?” I inquired when the door closed behind us._

_“Nothing, the doctors found nothing wrong with his heart,” he answered sighing._

_“So why do you look so upset then?”_

_“Turns out someone died yesterday. Young man, 27, very active in sports. He had a heart attack. Time of death: 4:17 pm.”_

_“Don’t tell me…” I couldn’t finish my sentence. The words died before they left my lips._

_“I want to make sure that it was just a coincidence. For Dean’s sake. If it’s not, he’ll blame himself.”_

_“Where is he now?”_

_“Went to get some answers from Le Grange.”_

_“How can I help?”_

_Sam seemed a bit taken aback by my disposition to help but in the end, he gave me a tiny side smile._

_“Ok. We can start by cross checking any similarities between the healed and the obituaries.”_

_With that said, we started our task. Hoping beyond hope to not find anything suspicious or that would confirm our fears._

_After an hour or so we had found our answer and it was also around this time that Dean arrived. Just like Sam predicted, the older brother was furious and blamed himself as well as his brother for the death of the other man but like Sam said: neither of them knew._

_I stayed silent while listening to their discussion a bit more worried about the kind of warlock this Le Grange ought to be than what was being said. That was until Dean’s change in tone brought me back._

_“We’re dealing with a reaper.”_

_“Reaper?” my voice caught his attention in return._

_“You know. Cloaked skeletons with a scythe that takes your soul away when you die. But more importantly, what are you still doing here?” he shot._

_“I’ve volunteered to help.”_

_“Awesome,” he said without much emotion._

_“Also, I know what a reaper is and I know for a fact that they don’t really look like that anymore.”_

_That interested Dean._

_“How do you know that?”_

_“I’ve seen a couple. I can tell you that it has been a long time since I’ve known of someone controlling one of them.”_

_“Wait, wait, wait! A reaper? Controlling? What!?” Sam said confused._

_“Yeah, I think she’s right. This is not capital R Reaper. I think it’s just a reaper doing his job. I saw him. Old man in a suit, wrinkles all over his face. Pretty sure we’re dealing with those dudes.”_

_“Ok, so, include me here. Now that we agree it is a reaper, how is Roy controlling it?” Sam blurted out._

_“Black magic, I can tell you that much. I remember years ago a case with a witch that tried to bind a reaper in order to break out of her demon deal but something went awfully wrong and she died that day,” I said._

_“Do you’ve any idea how she tried to do it?” Sam asked._

_“Sorry. Never personally met her. I just heard about her story through someone else.”_

_“Awesome,” Dean responded again._

_After a moment of meditation, Sam whispered, “That cross,” at the same time he started typing something on his old laptop._

_“What?” Dean tried to decipher his brother’s words._

_“There was this cross. I noticed it before,” he huffed as he turned his laptop’s screen our way. It was an image I was very familiar with and, apparently, they were very familiar with it as well._

_“Tarot?” Dean ventured._

_The card per se was a richly dressed skeleton with a crosier in the shape of a cross but the upper part formed another, smaller cross surrounded by a circlet._

_“It makes sense,” Sam elaborated. “Tarot dates back to the early Christian era, right? When priests were using magic and a few of the veered into the dark stuff. Necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it.”_

_“So Roy’s using black magic to bind the reaper,” Dean confirmed what I had told them._

_“If he is, he’s riding the whirlwind. It’s like putting a dog leash on a great white.”_

_“Okay, then we stop Roy.”_

_“How?” Sam asked._

_“You know how,” Dean was very resolute._

_“Wait, what the hell are you talking about Dean? We can’t kill Roy.”_

_“The guy’s playing God. He’s deciding who lives and who dies. That’s a monster in my book.”_

_“No, we’re not gonna kill a human being Dean,” Sam paused. “We do that, we’re no better than he is.”_

_“Okay, so we can’t kill Roy, we can’t kill death. Any bright ideas college boy?” the eldest asked in a mocking way._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“College?” Namjoon seemed utterly surprised.

“Yeah. I later learned that in an attempt of running away from the hunters’ life, Sam Came to California and was studying at Stanford. He did so well in his LSAT’s that he was offered a full scholarship at Stanford’s Law school,” Myriam commented with a sad tone in her voice. 

“Full scholarship?! Why didn’t he take the chance?” the leader was still troubled by this new information. 

“Fate had different plans” Myriam shrugged. “I was going to tell you this later in the story but I guess, since I’ve paused already I can fill in those gaps.”

She seemed to take a moment to think how to break things down to them again. In the end, she sighed and opted for a direct approach for there was no easy or soft way to say the next words.

“Their mom was brutally murdered by a supernatural being when Sam turned six months’ old. That’s mainly what forced them into the life of the hunters. Their dad was mad with revenge. As an ex-marine, he knew how to handle a great deal of weapons and was very dexterous with hand-to-hand combat. He personally trained his boys to be hunters from a very early age. Please, don’t look at me that way. I'm simply sharing the story and there is a reason I mention this. 

“After running away to get a life of his own, Sam found someone. A girl named Jessica. He, apparently, was happy there but his past reached out to him again. Since he refused to let go of his ‘normal’ life, the supernatural world reminded him where he belonged,” she paused a second and finished off saying. “Jess burned the same way Mary Winchester did.”

Myriam could see the horror and pain in their faces. It was a totally expected reaction but she had warned them since the very beginning. 

“Now, back to the reaper. Sam suggested to figure out what kind of black spell Roy was using and find a way to break it. Simple enough.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“I want to help,” I said._

_Dean didn’t look sure of himself and Sam was quiet._

_“Wanna learn a new trick?” Dean finally snapped at me._

_“Do you really think that, at my age, if I had any interest in that sort of thing, I wouldn’t have figured a way already?” I answered a bit desperately. “Please, give me a chance to prove myself to you.”_

_“Why is this so important to you?” Sam wondered._

_“I-I don’t know. I can just feel it.”_

_Dean huffed a bit but finally agreed to let me help. Of course not before being extremely clear of what would happen if I tried to betray them. I was fine with his terms._

_We got in their car and Dean took us to Reverend Roy’s place. A service was about to begin so Sam hurried to the house as he asked us to create a distraction in case someone got picked out._

_“Should one of us go into the tent to make sure?” I suggested._

_“Nah, we can see it from here.”_

_“Did you know that guy?”_

_“Which one?”_

_“The one at the parking lot handing out the propaganda against the Reverend.”_

_“Nope but I’ve seen him here before doing the same thing. Apparently he’s against frauds.”_

_“That figures.”_

_“By the way, just how old are you?” he asked suddenly remembering I had made an allusion to my older age._

_I giggled. “I’ve been around since the 1390’s.”_

_“What?!” he almost screamed._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Actually, his reaction was a lot like Jimin’s. Very funny to me,” Myriam paused to comment to the boys. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 _Right about then we heard Le Grange call someone up. A young lady accompanied by her mother. They both looked so happy but Dean tensed even more than when I told them I was a witch._

_“You know her?”_

_He was silent._

_“What’s wrong with her?”_

_“Brain tumor. Inoperable,” he finally said._

_“Shouldn’t we stop this?”_

_Dean’s phone rang._

_“What do you got?” he answered to his little brother._

_“Roy’s choosing victims he sees as immoral. And I think I know who’s next on his list. Remember that protestor?” Sam said on the other side of the line._

_“Wait! The guy in the parking lot?” his voice was hushed but alarmed._

_“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll find him. But you can’t let Roy heal anyone, all right?”_

_Dean hung up, evidently distressed and torn. I could see just how much he wanted to help this girl but this just wasn’t the way._

_“Pray with me friends,” Roy said. “I hope you’re ready.”_

_“I am,” Layla answered with a nervous smile._

_The elder Winchester stood with me at the entrance so I did the only thing I could at the moment. I started a small fire in a corner. Nothing serious but enough to interrupt the ceremony. Before you ask, yes, I used magic._

_“Fire!!” Dean called out as Roy was placing his hand on Layla’s head. “Hurry! Tent’s on fire!”_

_People listened but were slow to get up. No one really wanted to leave so I had to increase the urgency level. I allowed the fire to creep a little higher and the smoke became thicker._

_“Fire! Everybody get out of here!!” he insisted and the people began moving faster._

_I remember listening to Layla’s mother beg to Roy not to stop but he apologized as he instructed everyone still in the tent to leave in an orderly fashion. He assured that they would figure out what had happened as someone was already using the fire extinguisher on my distraction._

_“We did it. We stopped Roy,” I heard Dean say to Sam through the phone._

_Silence for a second on the other side of the line and then:_

_“DEAN, IT DIDN’T WORK!! The reaper’s still coming!!” Sam yelled. “I’m telling you, I’m telling you, it must not have worked. Roy must not be controlling this thing!!”_

_“Well, then who the hell is?” Dean asked a bit more composed._

_Then we saw her: Sue Ann Le Grange._

_Dean approached the Reverend’s wife with big strides. As he turned her around, I could see her holding the same kind of cross as in the tarot card. Yet, before Dean could do anything, she started the scream for help. Two officers reached the pair and escorted Dean out the tent. I crossed a disbelieving look with Sue Ann. She broke the eye contact first and followed the officials._

_“You can let him go. I’m not gonna press charges. The Lord will deal with him as He sees fit,” she told the policemen and walked away._

_She was so sure of herself and the ‘power’ she had found that she felt untouchable, chosen. I’ve noticed that this principle can be applied to so many people it’s scary. It has definitely made me wonder more than once if humans are inherently evil by nature._

_Anyways, the important thing here is that we went back to the motel to think our next step. Sam had found a book with pretty much all the answers we needed. It explained in detail about the cross Sue Ann was wearing all the way to building up an altar to perform the ritual. The only question now was: should we destroy the cross or the altar? We decided that both had to go, just to be sure._

_That night, we went back. Roy was holding a small ceremony for Layla. I mean, it's not like she didn’t deserve it but this was not the right way to do it. We were almost at the house when Dean suddenly pushed Sam and me behind a car. He had noticed the officers approaching us and he made himself the target._

_“I’ll look for the altar. Do you think you can manage to find the cross?” Sam said in a teasing tone._

_“Easy peasy. Good luck,” I shot back._

_Now, my job was to find Sue Ann and take her necklace away. My logic was: go to the tent with the Reverend. She had to be either next or close to her husband. I ran around for around five minutes straight, circling the tent twice and was going for the third round when I saw her from behind, holding something to her chest._

_Long story short, I ripped the awful thing from her and smashed it on the ground in a split second. She shrieked in panic as she realized what had happened and dreaded what was about to come. As she lifted her eyes, she saw it. The reaper. With the spell broken he was pissed off and wanted revenge. Officially, Sue Ann died of a heart attack. In reality, a reaper made her pay her insolence and boldness._


	3. Chapter 3

“And well, that was my first ever case with the boys. Was fun. Now, after that we stayed in con…”

“Noona, wait!” Myriam was very surprised with this new interruption. 

Out of all the possible people to interrupt, it was this person. Pale and a bit shaky, he realized too late what he had done. He was in the spotlight and knew he wouldn’t be let off that easily. His eyes moved rapidly, not sure to were to look but certain that Myriam was the last person he could met gazes with. Body almost frozen on the spot, he began to speak in a very silent voice. 

“There’re… still… too many questions here. Don’t be like that,” his tone was almost a pleading one. 

Myriam snickered, she was well aware as to how difficult it was for this member to speak up, specially to the ladies. She didn’t want to take advantage of the situation but it was way to cute for her to let it slide completely. 

“What do you want to know? What did I leave out according to you?”

“Oh… uhm… well… wh-what happened to the Reverend and the guy from the parking lot and to Layla? Has she… has she passed away?” his voice was very shaky and quiet, barely understandable. 

Everyone nodded in agreement though none had volunteered to help poor little Jungkook find the right words just a moment ago.

“Mmm… as far as I know, Reverend Roy passed away around two years ago due to old age. That guy from the parking lot, David, spent some time in therapy trying very hard to forget his NDE and Layla… Layla is happily married and awaiting her third child.”

“Where did she get her surgery? Wasn’t her tumor inoperable?” Jimin added to the conversation honestly wondering the fate of this unknown woman. 

“Who said anything about surgery? Do you really believe magic is only meant to hurt people?” Myriam raised an eyebrow.

“You mean you…?” Jimin began but couldn’t finish his sentence. 

“It was the least I could do. She deserved a second chance,” Myriam tried to brush off.

“But then… did you… who had to...?” Jungkook asked even more nervous, mouth clearly dry and just a tiny bit paler.

Myriam sighed, “There’s more than one way to heal someone. A life exchange is usually the one used the most because it’s the easiest but it’s not the only path. For better or worse I was born with a different set of skills. To be honest, I was trying to help Layla but I did it mainly for Dean. I really didn’t want him to feel responsible for taking away her chance so I healed her.”

“What did he say?” Jimin asked again. 

“Nothing, really. I never told him and if he ever suspected it, he never mentioned anything to me I don’t really mind,” Myriam shrugged. “Anyways, after that I gave them my contact and each of us went on our way. I thought about going back to my job and simple life but as I drove closer to Loup City I realized why I had been taken to the USA. I was meant to hunt.

“Before you ask, yeah, I’d hunt before but with a tiny difference. Usually I would limit myself to protect my territory so I was taught the basics about the most renown and abundant species of monsters. I learned to identify patterns, follow trails and manipulate weapons. You know: knives, swords, daggers, bows, crossbows. Whatever was available at the time and place.”

“Really?” the youngest asked with an even more silent tone.

Myriam could swear she heard a collective gulp. She sniggered. It’s not like she wanted to scare them half to death but she wanted to be as honest as possible and that meant telling them this part of herself. 

“Yeah. Mongol’s descent weren’t that picky when it came to the army. Specially after Genghis Khan and his grandchildren. Gender wasn’t a reason to be excluded although nationality did present a bit of a challenge. I got the training anyways since they were in need of people to fight in the armies of the Khanate of the Golden Horde. 

“Also, there were some temples in the middle-east that accepted women as acolytes and, do you really think that meditation techniques were all they taught?” she laughed lightly as the memories flooded her mind. “But I guess those are the sort of things I can not include in my CV. Do you think Mr. Hitman Bang would have hired me if I had written that down?"

The question was rhetorical of course but it did manage to bring a little smile on some of the members soothing the increasingly tense space just a bit. 

“If you want, I’ll tell you about that later buuuuut, back again to our main story. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_I quit my job, emptied the flat and went to the only hunter that I knew had a place of his own: Bobby._

_I drove for around four hours with the idea of asking for some guidance but ended up with something else entirely. At first, the old man was surprised by my petition. I had to camp in my car for two days outside of his house for him to soften up enough to invite me a cup of coffee. Then, it took me around four more hours of following him around the Salvage Yard for him to accept sharing information about native monsters with me. Of course I had to offer something in return so I told him I would lend him a couple of interesting books I had stored._

_With that achieved, I drove to the town and looked for somewhere to stay. Figured that if I was going to start looking for trouble rather than waiting for it to come, I didn’t really need a place for myself so I went to the first motel I found and began from there._

_First thing was first: Money. Spoke with one of my attorneys through the phone and she agreed to take care of the technicalities. She just needed and address to send the plastic to and, just because, I gave her Bobby’s home address._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Before you ask, yes I have money. No, I don’t need to work. Why do I do it? Because I get bored. Cadwalder firm manages my affairs here in the US. No, it’s not the only law firm I work with. Why Cadwalder? Who do you think helped financially for it to survive this long?” Myriam shrugged unbothered. “Anyways, maybe someday I’ll tell you about my finances though I wouldn’t really count on it. Moving on.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Second thing I needed was weapons. Of course I had a small amount of weapons collected through the years. And some were perfect for hunting but I needed more modern equipment as well as a space to carry them around. Figured that Bobby could help me with both. My boy just needed a few modifications to the trunk and it would be perfect._

_Third, I needed a good laptop. I knew how to handle a computer of course but the only one I’d ever bought was an old desktop because I really didn’t need it. I worked long shifts and only went back home to eat, shower and sleep. If I was in the mood, I would study something or practice some new spell. I’m old fashioned and prefer physical books over a lot of things. Yet, I have to agree that some technology has come into the world to make things easier so I try to adapt._

_The next morning I went to retrieve some of my books and grimoires so I could start my classes with him. And before you ask, a grimoire is a spell book. Sort of like a cookbook for witches. It contains recipes, of instructions for rituals and spells. They’re pretty cool if you ask me but anyhow, Bobby seemed very impressed (or at the very least, interested)._

_He took them all on one hand and invited me in. His house was pretty small, books and beer bottles all over the floors. Piles of even more books that looked quite old and rare, and a thick layer of dust were almost everywhere. We went straight to the little studio he had. The desk had some space and there were two chairs for us._

_“Ok. Where to begin?” he said as he scratched his head and took a seat. Then he kept going. “Tell me again what you wanted.”_

_“I want to be a better hunter. I know how to track a trail and to identify patterns of monsters I'm familiar with but I think that’s my problem. My knowledge of monsters and their lore is very limited to those in middle and far east. I also know about a few European monsters but I'm sure there are so many more I'm unfamiliar with. That without considering all the supernatural beings of this continent.”_

_“Ok? So, I’ll leave out vamps, werewolves and ghosts,” he paused and I nodded. “How about you start with this?”_

_He gave me one of the books behind the desk. I read: ‘Native American Legends’ as a title._

_“This ought to get you started. I’ll see if I got anymore like this.”_

_I thanked as I started reading the thick book, disconnecting myself from the world. After about three or four hours I was done and I finally noticed the stack of books Bobby had left for me on top of the desk. Myths and ghost stories, monster lore and bestiaries, legends and old copies of extremely rare books. He had stacked nearly ten books like that for me so I kept on reading._

_I’m not sure as to when it happened but I fell asleep on top of the third book. When I woke up next morning there was a blanket on my shoulders and a sandwich next to me. I remember smiling while I had my breakfast and kept on with my reading._

_I learned about arachnes, ghouls, pishtacos, rugarus, shapeshifters, vetalas, wendigos, wraiths and shtrigas. I read about some of their patterns, their prey preferences and, more importantly, how to kill them. Through the course of a week I felt more competent so I asked Bobby about the weapons._

_“I might know someone who may help,” was his response._

_He made a few calls while I ordered the books he had given me and helped around the kitchen as well. I was used to do it anyways._

_“Leave it kiddo,” he said for the nth time._

_“It’s ok. I'm almost done,” I answered while drying my hands with a cloth. “So? What did he say?”_

_He sighed, “He got some tools alright but, it ain’t gonna be cheap.”_

_“That’s ok, my plastic got here yesterday. I’ll go to town and make a withdrawal,” I shrugged._

_“You’ll what? Plastic? Wha…?” he seemed lost._

_“Yeah, I spoke to one of my attorneys as soon as I got here and my card was sent almost immediately with a new bank account for me. I guess it would be safer to withdraw from another county or even a big city but I’ll make due for the time being.”_

_“Now, now, wherever do you got attorneys and money?” Bobby asked._

_“Pirate treasures and a good contract,” I said smiling._

_Bobby arched an eyebrow but let go of the topic._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I guess that he didn’t want to get overly involved with such personal information just yet. You must understand that he didn’t do it because he hated me but because of the acute survival instinct that hunters tend to develop. Just by letting me into his home in such a way was already sort of a violation to a hunter’s common sense which speaks volumes of him. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“O…K. Well, I’ll take you to see him and you’ll be on your own from there. Be prepared to leave in an hour.”_

_I nodded and left hurriedly. I owed a night at the motel and I had some clothes hanging in the closet plus a thing or two. As I drove back to Bobby’s place I suddenly realized I hadn’t had time to make the changes I wanted to on my boy but the old man didn’t even let me speak or get back to the house._

_I sighed when I saw his ancient ’71 Chevelle waiting for me by the road. There was nothing I could do but follow. And what a trip. Bobby failed to tell me where we were actually going or how far we were driving. Imagine my surprise when I saw the sign: ‘Welcome to Iowa’. On the bright side, it wasn’t as far as it sounds. Took us around two and a half hours to get to Mapleton, so, cool._

_Apparently, this contact of Bobby’s had a shop. Well, more like a convenience store with a small room in the back for people like us. He only needed to see Bobby to know what he was looking for so we went straight to the special room._

_“What brings you back so soon Singer?” he asked once inside._

_“Not me. Her,” he pointed at me with his thumb. “New in the business.”_

_“Ain’t she a bit young?”_

_“I only look like it sir. I'm well over the legal age, trust me,” I countered._

_“Uh huh. So, have you ever handled a gun?”_

_“Only small ones. Got a .38 Colt Cobra and a Colt Navy 1851 that I haven’t really used in some time.”_

_He nodded, turned around and began shuffling inside the many boxes that could be found in that tiny room until he found the right one._

_“This little babies just came in a couple of months ago. They’re quite popular among the ladies. A Serbu Super Shorty. The model is a bit old, I’ll grant you that but they’ve never been fired. So, practically new.”_

_“How much?” Bobby was straight to the point._

_“Three grand,” the other man said immediately with an ugly smirk on his face._

_“WHAT!? You including the munitions?”_

_“Nah, those’d be on the side. 500 bucks a box.”_

_“Why’s that?” I asked._

_“Smaller shotguns are rare and therefore, more expensive,” he lied. “Bigger shotguns have a lower price. All below two grand, I’ll assure you that.”_

_“Ok. Then, I’ll have that Browning Citori please,” I pointed at said shotgun. “Are $1,800 good enough?”_

_“Wh-wh-wha’? I'm sorry miss that one is almost three grand. You can’t expect…”_

_“Didn’t you just assure me that bigger shotguns were all under $2,000. I want the Browning and I’ll give you $1,800 for it, not a penny more.”_

_I think I said it in such a way that neither man knew what to say for a few seconds. Then I heard a light chuckle from Bobby. I might not have known how to use those weapons but I sure did my homework before leaving Sioux Falls._

_“Well, you heard the lady. Give her the guns.”_

_I’ll make this simple. I got out of there with my Browning, two Super Shorites, six boxes of ammo and the request of never having to deal with me for an amazing price. In my book that will always be a win._

_Bobby looked amused as we walked out through the door to leave the shop._

_“Didn’t know you were so good at this whole bargaining thing. Could it be you cheated a little?”_

_“Nope, no magic involved. Simply a lifetime of dealing with people that tend to underestimate me and what I know about my stuff. Most of them were men you know. I think that’s one of the things I miss the most about my husband.”_

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Myriam paused for a moment. That same sad look on her face again. No one really knew what to say so the girl kept going. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Oh yeah. You mentioned that before. How long? Or was that a trick?”_

_“I don’t lie,” I said very serious. Then I softened a little, “It’s been a few hundred years, but I still miss him as if it had happened yesterday.”_

_Bobby looked at me in a strange way, I guess it was his pity look. But I’ll never know. He was also visibly uncomfortable. So he cleared his throat and signaled me to open the car._

_“I still got to make some arrangements to my boy, but the trunk will be ok for now.”_

_“Uh huh, well that should be easy to fix at my place.”_

_“Are you inviting me back?”_

_“Jus’ saying, I got tools.”_

_“Thanks Bobby. So, what now?”_

_“Here, gotcha’ little something,” he drew out a folded paper from one of the pockets of his vest and gave it to me._

_It was a printed article. Strange deaths happening in a small town. No apparent connection between the victims. No forced entry to the houses. No malfunction on the alarm system and the M.O. was exactly the same: the victims had been strangled to death considering the huge bruises on their necks._

_“Let’s see how you handle this,” Bobby said in a challenging tone._

_The town was a bit farther away so I jumped in my car with a smile on my face leaving the old man behind very rapidly._

_To say I was excited would feel incomplete. Turns out it was a vengeful spirit that in life was wrongfully accused of molesting kids and was assassinated by a group of concerned parents back in the 50’s. As things would have it, he was murdering look-alikes of the parents the same way he was killed. Sad story._

_Anyways, I’ll move forward a couple of days. I'm back in Sioux Falls, found Bobby walking outside with a cup of coffee and as soon as we exchanged glances, he smiles and signals me to move my car to a certain spot in the Salvage Yard._

_I hopped out of my boy and started telling him about the case, half reporting, half just eager to tell someone. Meanwhile, Bobby opened my trunk and began taking measurements. He made a few questions on whether or not I knew what I wanted. Gave him the general idea and went on retelling the story._

_Must point out that he is really crafty and took him a couple of hours to make a steel cantilever with several compartments not just for guns but for ammo, knives and basic ingredients for rituals and spells as well. The best part was that it was all concealed by the same fabric that hid the emergency tier._

_“You’re gonna have to be careful with your tiers if you leave the emergency one here.”_

_“Don’t worry, I will figure something out if it happens but I think I’ll be fine,” I responded with confidence._

_That night I had dinner with Bobby in his kitchen for the first time. He told me he might had found me another case and that I could leave in the morning if I wanted. I agreed and enjoyed the rest of our simple dinner. Later he showed me the second floor and appointed me to a bedroom almost at the end of the corridor, opposite to his. We said our goodbyes and left for the night._

_This kept going for months. I not only got to know Bobby better but became a regular at Harvelle’s Roadhouse. Got to meet other hunters, exchange tips and stories but most importantly, befriended the owner’s daughter, Jo, and their oldest tenant, Ash._

_They were both very young, Ash was older than Jo though. She was eager to spread her wings and follow her dad’s steps into the life of the hunters. Ash was a man that much preferred to stay home and play games. He was a genius, make no mistake. He taught me most of what I know about programming… and hacking._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wait a second! You know how to do that?” Namjoon asked amazed. 

“Well… yeah. A bit I guess. Had amazing teachers and I’ve always had a thing for languages. When Ash taught me about the binary language and how I could start learning about programming from there, it became easier. Yet, I didn’t really go more in depth into the hacking world until years later when I met Charlie,” she answered.

“Charlie?” Jimin asked. “Is he good?”

“One of the best. But I got way ahead in time. Mmm… where was I?... Oh! Yes.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Well I befriended Jo who was always interested in my stories. Said it was nice having someone around her age that did what I did so her mom would let her run free. Ellen never gave in and after telling her my real age, her mom then used me as her personal weapon. That one backfired terribly._

_I remember Jo being so upset with me that she stopped talking to me for three solid weeks. No calls, no texts, not a single word. Eventually, she started talking to me when she overheard me telling Ellen about letting her daughter join me for a hunt sometime. Ellen still refused but Jo’s first words towards me were:_

_“You really want me to tag along?”_

_“Sure. Why not? I could use the back up and you could use some fresh air.”_

_We picked up from where we left and I was simply happy to have my friend back. If I remember correctly, it was around that time I met the Winchester brothers again._

_I had just come back from an exhausting three-cases-in-a-row marathon to Bobby’s place. He was cleaning one of his guns when I came in._

_“Kid, you look like Hell.”_

_“Missed you too Bobby. I'm going to hit the shower. Yell if the house is on fire.”_

_This had become our sort of routine after the second month. I felt safe and incredibly happy when I was there. True enough. The old man hadn’t allowed me in as soon as he saw my results but I think he warmed up to me quite fast. Good times._

_That day though we had Sam and Dean drop by unannounced, I was still in the shower when they came into the house so as I walked down the stairs I overheard them talking. Must admit that just their voices were enough to make me nervous so I started fidgeting with my tesbih again._

_“Tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure if we should come,” I heard Dean say._

_“Nonsense. Your daddy needs help,” Bobby responded in a very endearing way. It was obvious he cared deeply for the boys._

_“Yeah, but last time we saw you, I mean, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot. You cocked the shotgun and everything,” I smiled at Dean’s words. It definitely sounded like something Bobby would do._

_“Yeah, well, what can I say?” Bobby huffed out. “John just has that effect of people.”_

_“Yeah, I guess he does.”_

_Right about then I walked into the room. Sam and Dean both looked at me a little confused but alert._

_“I see you’re done kiddo. Gonna stand there all day or will you join us?” Bobby blurted out in that characteristic tone of his._

_“Uhm… hi. Long time no see” I said walking in._

_“Hey! Myriam, wasn’t it?” Sam was the first to answer. I nodded._

_“Myriam the witch right?” Dean reiterated. I smiled with a second nod._

_“What are you doing here?” Sam asked._

_“Been taking sort of private hunting lesson with him” I pointed at the elderly._

_“Huh! Nice,” Sam continued._

_“So, what did I just walked into?”_

_“Well just check this out,” Sam lifted his book to show me a very detailed symbol with a scorpion in the middle. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”_

_“Key of Solomon?” Bobby interrupted and we both walked closer to the desk Sam was using. “It’s the real deal all right.”_

_“And these… uhm… these protective circles, they really work?” the younger Winchester kept on asking._

_“Hell yeah,” Bobby said energetically. “You get a demon in one, they’re trapped. Powerless. It’s like a satanic roach motel,” both men smiled._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“De-demons?” Jungkook stuttered. “For real?"

He had a very concerned look and the others shuffled uncomfortably. This time Myriam didn’t smile at their reactions, it was a very serious matter.

“Yes. How else are the witches to make a demon deal if not with a real demon? And let me tell you this. I know it will not make you feel any better but there are worse things than demons out there,” she responded.

“What could possibly be worse than demons?” Jimin wondered out loud.

“Are Heaven and Hell real then?” a new voice asked. 

Said voice belonged to Myriam's best friend among the the group. The male who’s smile could brighten up any room. Nevertheless, right at this moment his face showed genuine fear and his voice was just as shaky as Jungkook’s. Myriam only felt worse because she knew that the story was going to get so much worse from this point on but she had to give an answer.

“They’re both real. Purgatory is a thing as well and, to answer your question Jimin: angels. Angels can be so much worse than demons. Specially if you are on their blacklist and have a price for your head. Let me tell you, no fun. In Dean’s words, and out of first hand experience, I can tell you that most of them are douchebags,” Myriam sentenced.

“I thought angels were supposed to be good and protect humans,” Hoseok said with a very sad voice.

“Most people do but, as they told the Winchesters almost as soon as they met, if you read the Bible correctly, angels aren’t supposed to be peace, love, halos and a harp on their hands. They are God’s warriors or, more accurately, soldiers. You can barely imagine just how square minded and entitled they can be. Not all of them of course but the vast majority. Free will is taboo among them because of the Fall so they decided they were going to exist to obey the orders that come from the top of the hierarchy rather than suffer the same fate as Lucifer,” the girl explained with a frown and an annoyed tone in her voice. 

“So… is… the one… to order such… horrible things… God?” Jimin asked half disbelieving, half spooked.

“God?” Myriam looked at Jimin with a mix of anger and sadness. “God is nowhere to be found. He abandoned Heaven a little after expelling Lucifer and creating the Cage in Hell for his fallen son. No one has seen him since. You know the joke that goes: Dad went to buy cigarettes and never came back? Well, same principle here.”

Shock was written all over the males’ faces. Myriam understood the feeling all too well so she allowed them exactly ten seconds to wrap their minds around that new piece of information and returned to her story before they could keep bombarding her with questions.

“But enough spoilers, back to Bobby’s.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Man knows his stuff,” Dean told us as he approached._

_“I’ll tell you something else too,” Bobby paused. “This is some serious crap you boys stepped in.”_

_“Oh, yeah?” Sam asked disbelievingly. “How’s that?”_

_“Normal year, I hear of…” he stopped to make a quick calculation, “say, three demonic possessions. Maybe four tops.”_

_“Yeah?” Dean said nervously, expecting the next part._

_“This year, I hear of 27 so far. You get what I'm saying?” dramatic pause again. “More and more demons are walking among us. A lot more.”_

_“Do you know why?” Sam inquired._

_“No, but I know it’s something big. Storm’s coming and you boys, your daddy, you’re smack in the middle of it.”_

_We were all silent for a second. Letting every word of Bobby’s to sink in. That was until Rumsfeld began barking like crazy followed by a soft whine. Bobby looked through the window only to find the broken chain (by which Rumsfeld was kept in place) and his Rottweiler gone._

_“Something’s wrong,” he said with urgency right before his front door was, literally, kicked down._

_“No more crap, okay?” said the newcomer._

_She was a young lady with short blonde hair dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a cherry red, leather jacket. I couldn’t see her face or, at least, the face of the human she was possessing._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Here is an interesting fact about possessions, when a demon does it, they get instant access to all of the person’s memories and they basically become the motor of the body. No matter how many times they are stabbed, shot or even torn apart, the demon will be the power that keeps the body moving. The human soul, however, is pushed down, caged up. Forced to see, hear, taste and feel it all, unable to escape the pain and horror. Most of the possessed do not recover from the experience and die soon or right after an exorcism.

“Anyways, due to a personal condition, for a while I wasn’t able to see the possessed vessels’ face but rather the demon’s true face. Must tell you, they are horrendous. After all, what are demons but human souls that have been tormented and deformed with time in Hell? So, yeah. Sucks to be me.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_Sam and Dean tensed. It was obvious they knew who she was. Dean tried to open the Holy Water flask in his pocket but she sent him flying into some stacks of books in the far corner. Like most demons, she had telekinetic abilities among some other supernatural attributes like super strength or teleportation._

_It was my very first time facing a demon. Can you believe it? 600+ years and this was my first encounter. Wasn’t sure if magic worked on them so I did nothing. Dean was out cold and Sam placed Bobby and me behind him in a protective manner._

_“I want the Colt Sam,” she said in a menacing way. “The REAL Colt. Right now.”_

_Sam and Bobby slowly pushed me to the next room._

_“We don’t have it on us,” Sam replied. “We buried it.”_

_“Didn’t I say: no more crap?” she asked and raised her voice just a little. “I swear, after everything I heard about you Winchesters, I gotta tell you, I’m a little underwhelmed. First Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun and then he leaves the real gun with you two chuckleheads. Lackluster, man. I mean, did you really think I wouldn’t find you?”_

_“Actually,” Dean said calmly while coming from behind her, “we were counting on it.”_

_She turned to look at him in anger but, slowly, as if to demonstrate she wasn’t afraid. Dean had defiance written all over his face as he looked up to the ceiling. The demon (who I learnt was named Meg) followed his eyes and saw the trap painted there. A real masterpiece of Solomon’s Key. She looked back at Dean._

_“Gotcha,” he said triumphantly._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Now, allow me to do a small parenthesis here. You might be asking for context that I’ve failed to you fill up with. I'm sorry, I was distracted but here goes. At this point in the story, Sam and Dean’s dad had been kidnaped by demons because, firstly he found a special gun created by the legendary Samuel Colt which was said to be able to kill anything, including demons. You also need to understand that up until 2006 most hunters believed that there was no way to kill a demon only to exorcise them and trap them back in Hell. This was even before we encountered angels. 

“So, apparently, and like I told you before, this guys’ mom had been murdered by a yellow-eyed demon and the same bastard arranged for Jess’s death as well. John Winchester and his boys became very renowned hunters in our little world. As American standards go, they were numbers 1, 2 and 3 without dispute. Therefore, when the word spread that John was looking for the Colt, it was only a matter of time before he got it and the demons knew it. But just to show you how good he was, John not only beat the demons at finding the weapon but outsmarted them from taking it from him (if only for a brief moment).

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_With Meg’s power suppressed, we proceeded to tie her up and… lets just say the interrogation didn’t go entirely as planned. Bobby and I salted all the doors and windows so no other demon could get in. Meanwhile Dean lost it a little with her. Always remember that, if not pushed hard enough, demons will never tell you the truth. Unfortunately for her, Dean never believed her when she assured him John was dead and neither did I._

_So, Dean had another idea. With his father’s journal in hand, Sam began the exorcism. Unlike what the media has shown, an exorcism can be performed by anyone that has the right chanting but what is real, is just how upset demons get when they hear it. No need for you to know the exact word exchange between the older Winchester and Meg, just know that a lot of swearing and graphic description of various threats were involved. No one hates Hell more than demons._

_As Sam kept going, Meg finally gave in with a heart wrenching scream._

_“He’s not dead! But he will be after what we do to him,” she said panting._

_“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Dean asked visibly shaken._

_“You don’t,” Meg answered smugly._

_“Sam!” Dean urged._

_“A building, okay?” she countered, preventing Sam from reading on. “A building in Jefferson City.”_

_“Missouri? Where, where? An address!” Dean pressed on._

_“I don’t know,” she answered almost in a pleading tone._

_“I don’t know. I swear,” her voice broke a little at the end. “That’s everything. That’s all I know.”_

_For the most part, she was telling the truth but there was something, one last thing she was holding back. Dean looked at her in disgust as Meg tried to catch her breath._

_“Finish it,” he commanded Sam._

_“WHAT!?” she blurted out in surprise. “I told you the truth!!”_

_“I don’t care.”_

_“You son of a bitch, you promised.”_

_“I lied!” he yelled in her face. Then in a softer tone and, with only one word, he indicated his brother to proceed, “Sam.”_

_Sam didn’t go on._

_“Sam? Read.”_

_“Maybe we can still use her,” Sam countered. “Find out where the demon is.”_

_“She doesn’t know!” his brother boomed._

_“She lied.”_

_“Sam, there’s an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there and we gotta help her.”_

_“You’re gonna kill her,” Bobby intervened._

_“What?” Dean almost barked._

_“You said she fell from a building,” Bobby turned to look at the girl in question. “That girl’s body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside. You exorcise it, the GIRL is gonna die.”_

_“Listen to me. Both of you. We’re not gonna leave her like that,” Dean said._

_“She IS a human being!” Bobby argued._

_“And we’re gonna put her out of her misery,” Dean turned to Sam. “Sam, finish it.”_

_The younger brother looked at everyone present in the room, clearly troubled._

_“Finish it,” the older insisted one last time._

_Sam turned to Meg and chanted the last part of the spell. The girl’s head moved uncontrollably. The chair in which she was tied up slid through the limits of the Key of Solomon until, with a final scream to the sky, a black cloud was ejected from her mouth, disappearing as it hit the seal on the ceiling. The girl then dropped her head and the blood began to drip from her mouth._


	4. Chapter 4

“This may sound all too cruel to you but Dean was right. When you are in that position you want to do the lesser evil. I think it can be considered an equivalent to euthanasia, a mercy kill of sorts. I think that you don’t really want to hear this but here goes anyways: it was neither the first nor the last time things like this happened. Sad, I guess, but we are the ones who will carry with that as long as we live. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 _To everyone’s surprise, the girl, the real girl, began lifting her head. Slowly and clearly in pain. Time seemed to stop for the briefest moment and then Dean and Sam kneeled to untie her. At the same time, the older Winchester gave out instructions to Bobby and me._

_“She’s still alive. Call 911. Get some water and blankets”._

_“Thank you,” she whispered._

_“Shh, shh, just take it easy alright,” Sam soothed._

_“Come on, let’s-let’s get her…” Dean said while attempting to carry the girl and lay her on her back._

_“NO!!” I surprised them. “Don’t move her! I’ll take it from here boys.”_

_I was a bit panicked, very few times I get a patient as broken as she was. It was obvious she was still fighting to stay alive but her strength slipped away terrifyingly fast. I had to be quick._

_“Bobby, hold the call! Boil some water and bring me my bag please.”_

_Sam and Dean stepped away while I rushed in to start my work._

_When treating someone in that kind of condition, the first thing I do is locate the bones’ splinters that might be piercing any organ. Immediately followed by putting a cork of sorts on the affected areas with some magic. All of this internal work is very delicate and requires a lot of concentration but most times I'm very confident in my skills to be doing, at least, two things at the same time. For example, healing and talking._

_“Bobby, please hand me the dittany,” I told him as soon as he walked in with the stuff I had asked for. I tried to work as efficiently as I could with this girl for it was difficult to pinpoint the worst injuries when everything altogether was almost shattered._

_“A year,” we heard her mumble. “It’s been a year.”_

_Her voice was strangled and hushed. Sam approached again and, with a very soft tone, insisted she took it easy._

_“I’ve been awake for some of it,” she swallowed and panted. “I couldn’t move my own body. And things looked… it… it’s a nightmare.”_

_“Please, don’t talk. You are making my stitches in your lungs pop open. Work with me, please,” I begged._

_“Was it telling the truth about our dad?”_

_“Dean,” Sam and I scolded softly._

_“We need to know,” he was dead serious._

_“Yes,” she stopped again to catch her breath. “But it wants you to know… that… they want you to come for him.”_

_“If dad’s still alive, none of that matters,” Dean answered with resolution._

_“Where is the demon we’re looking for?” Sam ventured after a minute._

_“Not there. Other ones. Awful ones.”_

_“Where are they keeping our dad?” Dean continued._

_“By the ri-river. Sunrise.”_

_“Sunrise? What does that mean?” Dean’s voice began rising. “What does that mean?”_

_That was the last straw for me._

_“Enough!” I said equally loud. “Let her rest. I can only do this right if I focus and she helps me by staying still and silent. Please, stop it.”_

_I understood their urge to know but there was not one but two lives at stake at that precise moment. Bobby walked them out of the room and spoke briefly before I heard the front door slam and the Impala’s engine roar to life._

_“How’re we lookin’?” Bobby asked as soon as he came in again, alone this time._

_“This is very serious. Her spine is all cracked. Several ribs are broken. One of her kidneys is not working and the other is barely doing the job. Her left lung is punctured and the right one has collapsed. Her heart is damaged. List goes on and this is just the thorax. I'm afraid of what I might find in her head. Don’t know how many floors she fell from but even with my help, I suspect she’ll never be the same,” was my diagnosis._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You speak a lot like a doctor,” Hobi pointed out with a shaken voice.

“Well, I was raised into witchcraft from a very early age but what made my mom so important in our community was precisely her healing abilities. She was one of the finest healers in the land. Everyone knew that. Some people came from far away just to be treated by my mom. She taught me all my bases and, the more I traveled through the world, the more I learned and created my own style. It’s one of the reasons I enlisted to both great wars last century. I wanted to help anyway I could.”

“You mean WWI and WWII?” Namjoon was the first to react. 

“Yup. Very awful mess let me tell you. Few books are able to enrapture the full horror of the wars and even then, they don’t feel complete, you know?” she made a pause before taking them back to the early years of the 2000. “I’ll save you some gruesome stuff and will fast forward for all our sakes. John died in order to save Dean, Sam was let into the secret that he was a special child among with an unknown number of other people that were born the same year as him, they lost the Colt, the…”

“Wait. Save Dean?” Namjoon interrupted once again.

“The rescue mission went south, the three of them were caught in a very bad car crash. To give you an idea as to how bad it was, Dean had to rebuild the Impala practically from scratch. From the front bumper to the taillights it was all cookie dough,” she smiled. “But Dean is very handy with tools, even if he doesn’t admit it. He just couldn’t let go of Baby like that. Come to think about it, we all have very severe attachment issues. We just can’t let go. Least of all without a good fight. 

“And speaking of letting go, the reason I couldn’t go with the Winchesters to help Dean, was because of the healing spells I was using on human Meg. The amount of little spells I had to weave in so she could live was very tricky and they demanded my whole attention until I was done. Worst, if we consider the state she was in, it made it ten times harder. If I tried fixing one thing, another would pop open due to the lack of care. I was by her side, non-stop for almost three days in a row. By the time she was finally stable, we had lost John.”

“Hey! Stop it right there!” one more voice broke his silence vow at long last. “Yo-you said John died but you couldn’t help Dean? I’m lost.”

Myriam bit her lower lip and looked down weighing whether or not to tell it all. She decided yes.

“During the crash, Dean took the worst part while Sam came out of it pretty whole. John was somewhere in the middle. In order to heal Dean, John did everything in his power to fix it. He let go of his hatred for a second and exchanged the Colt and his soul for the life of his eldest through a deal with Yellow-eyes.”

“HE WHAT?!” the same person boomed. 

“Demon deals are not just about power or fame or money. Some people do this sort of things out of pure love and despair as well. To heal or even bring back someone from the dead are also very powerful motivators. The price is always the same and, as I think I told you earlier, the deals stand for ten years after which Hellhounds will come looking for the human, tearing apart the body and dragging the soul to Hell.”

Silence.

“The Winchester family is a special one though, even among the hunters’ families. Demons usually recognize hunters and when summoned to make a deal they will either decline to do anything for them or will seal it with some awful twist. In John’s case, he got five minutes after making his deal instead of the standard ten years. Dean got a year after sealing his own deal later on.”

“Wh-what?” his voice was more hushed this time as he scratched the back of his red-haired head. “He made a deal? If he knew what was going to happen, why would he make a deal?”

“For Sam,” was Myriam’s answer. 

Her voice was very soft but full of sorrow and regret. She took a moment to steel up and kept going. 

“After John died, things escalated a lot. We found out what Yellow-eyes meant by ‘special children’. Apparently he had hand picked other people around Sam’s age and gave them special abilities. Sam started developing his around the time we figured this out. He had… what did he call them? Death premonitions… death visions? Something of the sort but to sum it up, he would get visions of people dying from time to time. It was very disturbing. 

“Sometimes, he would see Dean dying but mostly he saw people we didn’t know. Thanks to that, we got to know some of the other children. One had mind control powers, one could control acheri demons (which are very low level demons), one was telekinetic, one had electrokinesis, one had super strength, the list goes on. I met some of them and can tell you that not all of them were evil but Yellow-eyes had a very different idea for them all. 

“Azazel… he got most of his special kids and threw them in a small, abandoned town. I’ll never forget the name of the horrible place: Cold Oak, South Dakota. His great idea was to sort of do his own version of The Hunger Games. You know, five come in, only one leaves alive sort of thing. The children were disappearing and we couldn’t find out where they went or why. Little did we know that Sammy would suffer the same fate. By the time we put the pieces together, there were only two people alive in Sunshine Camp. One of them was Sam but… as I learned afterwards, help for the younger Winchester had just arrived when they… Dean… this other guy, Jake, s-stabbed Sam and proceed to run away… Sammy died seconds later in Dean’s arms. 

“You might wonder where the hell was I. Well, I was working another possession case of my own in Agness, Oregon when I first heard that Sam had went missing Dean asked me if I knew any spells that would help the situation. I gave him a location spell that I hoped would help to find Sammy and tried to hurry up with my case. 

“Actually, after Dean’s call it took me around six more hours to wrap up but once I was sure I was done, I stepped all the way into my boy’s accelerator. The thing is, that even with all that, Agness was more or less thirty hours from Sioux Falls. Let alone Cold Oak which was a bit further away. Needless to say I didn’t make it on time. 

“It was an awful year. Well, not that after all that had happened, things were flowers and butterflies, but that feeling of impending doom definitely didn’t help. Bobby was so angry with Dean for having done such a reckless thing. He almost slapped Dean but, instead, the old man just… broke. Right there, in front of both of us. I think that was the only time I saw him cry. 

“I was also devastated and angry though that anger wasn’t directed at Dean but rather at myself. For years, I felt responsible about what happened that day. Inside my mind, I would always say: if only I had been there. Still, I know that the one that took it the worst was Sam. Our little Sammy… tch,” Myriam’s sad smile appeared again. “Grief and pain can lead us to do some pretty stupid stuff but I’m running in my story. Ash found out what Azazel, or Yellow-eyes, however you wanna call him, wanted with the special children. He wanted the survivor to fracture the biggest demon trap in history that was preventing one of the Gates of Hell to be opened. 

“Apparently, Azazel figured out that the key to the Gate was the Colt and he handed it to the Cold Oak competition’s survivor. The man that killed Sam. Azazel gave him specific instructions and Jake opened the Gate just as we were arriving at the same spot. Many demons escaped Hell that day but Azazel was finally killed with one of the last bullets in the Colt. Bobby, Ellen and I closed the door and repaired the trap as soon as possible. It was all we could do to contain the rest of Hell to march on Earth I guess. 

“The following year was one of the highest demon activity and we still believed that there was no weapon to fight them, just tools to contain them and send them back. That was until we met Ruby. She was a demon that handed the Winchesters a special demon killing knife. Ruby always said she remembered what it was to be human, unlike all the other demons, so that’s why she wanted to help. Dean always suspected her. I never trusted her. 

“Yet, we had a very important issue in our hands, Dean’s contract. We learned who held it and that this particular demon had escaped Hell when the Gate opened. Her name was Lilith, a very ancient being, hand picked by Lucifer himself. Some say she was the very first demon. To add a little extra to the mix, we also learned that there was this FBI agent tailing Sam and Dean. Like most people, he didn’t believe in the existence of the supernatural, so where we saw a way of killing a vengeful spirit, a vampire or a werewolf, he saw desecration, decapitation and senseless shooting. 

“I’ll tell you, it took a demon siege to convince agent Henriksen we were telling the truth. He let us go and even offered to destroy what little information he had on me so far. I’d like to think we walked out of there with an ally. 

“Time went on and we started to get anxious because due date was getting closer. Dean’s hands were tied. If he personally tried to break his contract, the crossroad demon had warned him that Sam would drop dead in that same instant. Therefore, we had to come up with an alternative as soon as possible. 

“It was Ruby who suggested it. I can’t express this enough but she was awful. She said we had to kill Lilith in order to save both brothers. She gave us the knife as a sign of good faith and guided us to someone who knew where Lilith was so we could kill her. 

“My memories on that day are a bit hazy. It still haunts me. What I saw that day is definitely worse than any horror movie you can think of because, unlike a movie, this is the real world and there is no director to shout: CUT!, at the right moment. That day… that day…” she gulped, not out of fear but out of a very deep pain. She passed her tongue over her lower lip.

“It’s ok,” Hobi tried. “You don’t have to tell us.”

“Yes, I do,” Myriam looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry it is you guys. I really am but I feel that if I don’t tell someone I might explode. I’ve been keeping it to myself for far too long.”

“Then go ahead, say it. We’ll be fine,” Hobi gave Myriam a thumbs up and a reassuring smile. 

“Lilith,” she started after doubting one more second and with a shaky voice, “she enjoyed torturing in one of the cruelest ways I’ve seen. She loved possessing young girls and toying around with the family’s emotions often killing one member at a time if they refused to go along with her game. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_We learned she was in a little town called New Harmony, Indiana so we packed to go there. The Winchesters, though, were planning to leave Bobby and me behind but when the Impala didn’t start, the old man approached them._

_“Where do you think you’re going?” he mocked as he showed them a piece of the engine that he had removed earlier._

_The brothers stepped out of the car._

_“We got the knife,” Dean defended themselves._

_“And you intend to use it without us. Do I look like a ditch-able prom date to you?” Bobby questioned._

_“No, Bobby, of course not,” Sam tried to calm things._

_“This’s about me,” Dean continued, “and Sam, ok? This isn’t your fight.”_

_“The hell it isn’t!” Bobby stepped closer to Dean, obviously angry. “Family don’t end in blood, boy.”_

_Maybe a little unknowingly, Bobby had given me one of the most important lessons in my life. For some strange reason, I had never thought about people in my life like this. It clicked me in that moment just how much of a grandfather figure I saw in Bobby and how close I had grown attached to the Winchesters. Didn’t see them exactly as brothers of mine but something close. Cousins? Uncles perhaps?_

_Silence, and then Bobby kept going in a much calmer tone._

_“Besides, you need us.”_

_“Bobby…” Dean tried as he closed his eyes._

_“I’m the only one that can see demons. If this is a trap, you’ll need my eyes,” I argued as well._

_Sam looked at me._

_“You’re playing wounded,” Bobby continued. “Tell us, how many hallucinations have you had so far?”_

_Sam turned to his brother concerned._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Let me make another small parenthesis here. Additionally, to the feeling of impending doom, there is another amazing bonus that comes with the deal. During the last 24 hours, the contractee will experience terrible hallucinations that will get more frequent and much more horrible as the hour approaches. This often alienates the contractee and terrorize them. It’s not like Dean was immune, he had only been mentally preparing better for it with the information he had”.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

_“How’d you know?” Dean asked._

_“Because that’s what happens when you got Hellhounds on your butt. And because I'm smart,” he gave Dean the missing piece of the engine. “I’ll follow.”_

_I walked behind Bobby a bit disappointed that they wanted to leave us out of it. But I guess I get it now. I hopped in the Impala without so much as a hi. Dean got in two minutes later and ignited the car._

_After an hour or so of awkward silence, Sam spoke up._

_“Hey Dean?”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“You know, if this doesn’t… uh… if this doesn’t go the way we want… I want you to know…”_

_“No, no, no, no, no, oh no,” Dean cut him off._

_“No what?” Sam wondered a bit indignant._

_“You’re not gonna bust out the misty goodbye speech, ok? Neither are you, young lady,” he looked at me briefly through the rear mirror. “And if this is my last day on Earth, I do not want it to be socially awkward.”_

_Sam turned his sad eyes to the window. I silently looked at the men’s heads for a second._

_“You know what I DO want?” Dean regained my attention by reaching for the radio._

_“Bon Jovi?” Sam asked puzzled._

_“Bon Jovi rocks… on occasion,” Dean cleared out._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Here’s a fun fact about the older Winchester for you boys, he is very picky with music. He enjoys 70’s and 80’s rock more than anyone I've ever known. His dad recorded some tapes with his favorite tunes before his sons were even born and that is all the music he exposed his children during their early years. Specially considering that once he got into the life, he didn’t really have time to update. 

“Therefore, Dean never did either. All he ever wanted in life was to be like his dad so asking him to update in music would be like asking me to dance, it simply can not be, we can’t. One more thing, he can’t sing to save his life but he likes to do it anyways. That night, as we drove to what felt as our last hope, he encouraged us to sing along with him. The Impala was filled in very little time with our voices singing ‘Dead or Alive’.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_The song faded away and our spirits were lifted up, if only a little. Dean drove as fast as his Baby would allow but soon enough we heard a police siren at our backs._

_“We’re getting pulled over?” Sam wondered._

_“I got a busted taillight,” Dean commented annoyed. “It’s not like we’re in a hurry or nothing.”_

_We stopped on the side of the road. Sam handed Dean the paper work as his brother opened his window._

_“Problem officer?” Dean went straight to business and so did the policeman._

_“License and registration please,” he sounded almost bored. “Do you realize you have a taillight out Mr. Hagar?” he continued holding the papers._

_I tensed up in the backseat and I noticed Dean did the same._

_“Yes. Yes, sir. Uh, you know, I've been meaning to take care of that. As a matter of fact…”_

_Without notice, he slammed his door on the officer and jumped out of his seat in an instant. Before the other man knew what was even happening, Dean began punching him on the face to end up digging the knife all the way up the man’s face._

_At that moment, Sam finally was by his brother’s side. We all saw the orange glow emanating from the body as the demon was killed. Bobby’s car arrived behind the patrol. He rushed towards us._

_“What the hell happened?” he asked._

_“Dean just killed a demon,” Sam explained while Dean panted, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. “How’d you know?”_

_“I just knew,” his brother breathed out. “I could see its face. Its real face under that one.”_

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So he became like you?” the eldest speculated. 

“Not quite,” she answered.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“So what? Now you’re seeing demons,” Sam wondered._

_“I’ve been seeing all kinds of things lately, but nothing like this.”_

_“Actually, it’s not all that crazy,” Bobby countered as we hid the cars._

_“How is it not that crazy?” Dean turned to him with a frown._

_“What you got? Just over five hours to go? You’re piercing the veil Dean. You’re glimpsing the B-side.”_

_“Little less New Age-y, please,” Dean said not happy at all._

_“You’re almost Hell’s bitch so, you can see Hell’s other bitches,” he offered plainly._

_"Thank you,” Dean answered sarcastically._

_“It’ll actually come in pretty handy,” Sam voiced._

_“Oh well I'm glad my doomed soul’s good for something,” again with the sarcasm._

_“Damn right it is,” Bobby figured. “Lilith’s probably got demons stashed all over town just like we thought. We can’t let them sound the alarm. If she knows we’re here, we’re dead before we started.”_

_“Well this is a terrific plan. I'm excited to be a part of it,” even more sarcasm. “Can we go please?”_

_We moved as stealthily as we could while looking for Lilith. True to herself we found her possessing a little girl and, through the window we found the family she was holding hostage._

_Honestly, there are few demons I met before or after Lilith that are uglier and creepier. Comes to show just how long she had been corrupted in Hell. Won’t spend more time trying to describe her, there is no use really._

_“Alright, lets go. We’re wasting time,” Sam instructed._

_“Wait!” Dean stopped him._

_“For what? For her to kill the rest of them?” Sam shot back._

_“Yeah, and us too if we’re not careful. Look. See the real go-getter mailman on the clock at 9 pm? And Mr. Rogers over there?” Dean pointed out at the men._

_“Demons?” Bobby seemed to catch on._

_“Yes”._

_“Boys, I hate to break it to you but they're not the only ones,” I pointed out to various windows._

_The children in their beds ready to go to sleep and their mother; the old couple two houses down watching the TV; the newlyweds across the street. I was pretty sure the whole neighborhood was possessed._

_“Okay, fine. We… we ninja past those guys, sneak in…” Sam was stupidly optimistic or too desperate._

_“Then what? Give a Colombian necktie to a ten year-old? Come on!” Dean snapped back in a silent voice._

_“I know it’s awful,” Sam kept saying._

_“You think?”_

_“This isn’t just about saving you, Dean. This is about saving everybody,” Sam finally declared._

_“She’s gotta be stopped son,” Bobby took Sam’s side._

_“Oh damn it,” Dean breathed out in defeat._

_We divided into two teams. Sam and Dean were to take down the mailman and Mr. Rogers while Bobby and I blessed the water deposit._

_I suppose that’s another debunked myth. Anyone can bless the water if they know the right prayer and have a rosary in their hands. Additional to that, this may sound stupid but I learned that devil traps on stickers actually worked and, with a huge stash of them, I went with Bobby as backup._

_The old man and I were going to meet the Winchesters at the house as soon as we activated the garden sprinklers but we couldn’t. The holy water trap helped us keep the demons backing Lilith out of the house, but that meant we were blocked by a wall of Hell’s minions. We couldn’t help our friends. They were on their own._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is when all my memories turn blurry. I remember running towards that wall like a madwoman when I heard the first howl. I remember stamping my silly stickers all over the place, trapping as many demons as I could. I think Bobby tried to stop me but… the only coherent thought in my mind was: the plan failed, I got to help. Demons appeared seemingly out of nowhere. As soon as I trapped one, two more took its place. 

“I fought. I fought so hard,” Myriam’s voice cracked and tears began rolling down her cheeks. “I can still hear Sam’s pleas for mercy, I still wake up sometimes with the sound of Dean’s screeches in my ears, loud and clear. I remember seeing a bright light through a window. Next image in my mind: Sam on the floor, cradling Dean’s maimed body. No sign of his soul, the hellhound or Lilith. They were all gone.”


	5. Chapter 5

As hard as she tried, the tears wouldn’t stop. All she could do was hold back the whimpers while covering her eyes. The guys were speechless. It’s true that their lives hadn’t been easy but this… this was another kind of level. Jimin was finally able to summon enough courage. He stood up and sat next to Myriam.

At first he was a bit unsure but this was Myriam after all, he remembered her from BTS’s earliest stage. Sure, he had been one of the last members to be accepted but she had been there since day one. He rose an arm and gave this woman a side hug. It was a bit hard for him to look her face but the embrace became tighter each second until she held his hand.

“Thanks,” she breathed out still unable to look up but with the tiniest smile on her face.

Hobi stepped in next. He fought through the fear of Myriam’s words and kneeled right in front of her, tissue on his hand. She took the offer, dried her tears and blew her nose.

“I’m sorry. I-I lost it for a second,” Myriam apologized.

She sighed and dared look up. The first thing she encountered was Hobi’s precious smile. Given, it wasn’t a real happy smile but Myriam would take that over nothing. She felt a light squeeze on her hand and looked to the side. Jimin was trying to comfort her with that small sign of affection and she just couldn’t feel happier that they didn’t want to run away from her. Not yet at least.

“Don’t worry,” Hobi said softly. “It’s all in the past now. You can’t do anything now. The worst is over.”

“Tch,” she scoffed. “Not nearly. This was only the beginning of the end.”

Everyone looked at each other restlessly, wondering just how could it get any worse. Hobi sat on the floor, right in front of Myriam, legs crossed, in case she needed any more support. She felt lucky, extremely lucky, to have them as friends. With one last sigh Myriam kept going on her story.

“Four months went by. We tried everything we could to bring Dean back. Demons turned their back on us, magic was unable to reach that far without causing extreme damage to my friend. I even considered using necromancy to revive him, if only for the briefest second, but the state of the body made it near impossible and with each passing day the decay was even more evident. I firmly believe that because Dean was killed by hellhounds, my preservation spell didn’t work. That’s why we buried him.

“Now, Dean is a hunter and it is tradition to salt and burn the body in a pyre after the hunters die in order to prevent any supernatural misuse of what’s left of them. Yet, we buried him instead. Comes to tell you just how attached to him and to the idea of bringing him back we were.”

“Misuse?” a sixth voice asked. His tone was low and so was his volume but Myriam heard him just fine.

“A ghoul may eat a part of the flesh and pretty much become the person, memories and all. The soul can be tied to the earth and become a vengeful spirit. The bones can be used in several rituals of witchcraft to cause harm. A demon may enter the empty vessel and use it as it pleases it. The list goes on. That’s why hunters insist on cremation rather than inhumation.”

“Ah,” was the only answer he could give keeping his perfect poker face on.

“What about Sam? And Bobby?” Jimin tried to change back the subject.

“Bobby and I kept most of our routine intact except maybe for the extra drinking on his part. With Sam… we… grew apart. You have no idea just how much this hurt. I knew this was in part my fault and I desperately wanted… no, needed Sam’s forgiveness. I thought I would do anything he asked if it meant he would say the words but…” Myriam lowered her head again, “when he came with the idea of necromancy, I refused. I had seen it go wrong in every occasion anyone attempted to meddle with that magic. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Sam was furious. He stopped answering my calls, replying my texts, everything. For almost 4 months he was gone from my life.

“If it hadn’t been for Bobby, I’m not sure what would have happened to me. And it was also thanks to him that I got the news first. Everything started with a knock. I was upstairs getting ready for my next hunt when I suddenly heard struggling people near the kitchen but I didn’t really heed attention until:

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Bobby! Bobby! It’s me!” a familiar voice filled my ears._

_“My ass,” was the old man’s reply._

_“W-w-wait! Your name is Robert Steven Singer. You became a hunter after your wife got possessed. You’re about the closest thing I have to our father!” there was a small pause. “Bobby, it’s me”._

_I was in utter shock. So much, I couldn’t bring myself to go downstairs. I was too afraid to hope for a miracle._

_“Whoa, whoa!” came the sounds along with more struggle. “I'm not a shapeshifter!”_

_“Then you’re a revenant!” Bobby countered._

_Let me tell you, he was not an easy man to con._

_“Alright, if I was either, would I do this, with a silver knife?”_

_It was around this moment I finally walked down and stood underneath the kitchen’s threshold, agape. Dean made a small cut on his upper arm and I just knew. It was him._

_“Dean?” Bobby asked still in disbelief._

_“Dean!” I exclaimed and threw myself on him._

_I held him tight and could feel him returning the embrace as he responded:_

_“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”_

_I let go and watched as Dean moved closer to Bobby. The old man panted as if about to cry, only he didn’t. They hugged each other tightly just trying to process the whole thing. When they separated, Bobby said:_

_“It’s good to see you boy.”_

_“Yeah you too,” Dean responded._

_“But… how did you bust out?”_

_“I don’t know,” Dean half turned to see me. “I just… uh… just woke up in a pine bo…”_

_He was cut short by a splash of holy water directly to the face when he looked back at Bobby. I had to hide a chuckle as I saw his done-with-the-world face._

_“I’m not a demon either, you know?”_

_“I could’ve told you that,” I said, trying my best to conceal my laughter._

_“Sorry,” Bobby said apologetically. “Can’t be too careful.”_

_After that we sat down and tried to understand what exactly had happened but we just couldn’t make any sense of anything. I mean, if demons had been the ones to let him go, then why at that precise time? And why go through the trouble of denying a second contract with the younger Winchester if the ultimate goal was to make them suffer? Didn’t make any sense. What was even more intriguing, was the mark on his left deltoid. It felt familiar and foreign at the same time. It unsettled me._

_Dean asked about Sam as soon as he could, evading Hell questions by assuring us he didn’t remember a thing about what happened down there. He lied but I know PTSD when I see it so we didn’t push it._

_After a couple of hours, Dean had pinpointed Sam’s location, of course, not before scolding us about leaving Sammy on his own, not burning his corpse and complaining about how whomever or whatever freed him from Hell was still after him._

_We drove to Pontiac, Illinois to find Sam. Dean rode with Bobby, I rode my boy. We parked outside the motel and volunteered to grab something to eat. That should have allowed the three men to have a proper reunion and it was supposed to give me some more time before confronting Sam._

_Just as planned, they had a little heart to heart but I never made it to the motel with the food. Something in that place felt off so I only made a quick stop at the convenience store, got some beer and hurried back._

_When I arrived at the room’s door, Bobby opened up. Apparently they had just argued and cooled off in less than five minutes, but what can I say? Those are my boys._

_“Room service,” I joked, showing the bag of beers. “It’s good to see you again Sammy.”_

_Sam looked a little… ashamed. He apologized for ghosting me the last few months._

_“I was too hard on you. I’m sorry. It’s just…” he couldn’t find any more words._

_“It’s ok. I get it. I'm sorry too,” I answered._

_Dean looked at us for a second and changed the subject while opening the first beer of the day._

_“So, what were you doing here if you weren’t digging me out of my grave?”_

_“Well, once I figured out I couldn’t save you, I… started hunting down Lilith, trying to get some payback.”_

_“All by yourself,” Bobby commented. “Who do you think you are? Your old man?”_

_“Uh… yeah. I'm sorry Bobby. I should’ve called. I was pretty messed up,” Sam apologized again._

_I could sense that most of what he said was true but there was just something he wasn’t telling us._

_“Anyways, I was tracking these demons out in Tennessee and out of nowhere, they took a hard left, booked up here.”_

_“When?” Dean inquired in business mode now._

_“Yesterday morning,” the younger Winchester replied._

_“When I busted out,” Dean reasoned._

_“You think these demons are here because of you?” Bobby asked._

_“But why?” Sam voiced the million-dollar question._

_“W-I don’t know. But some ass demon drags me out, now this?” Dean answered sort of offended. “It’s gotta be connected somehow.”_

_“How you feeling anyway?” Bobby asked sincerely._

_“I’m a little hungry,” Dean made a carefree face._

_“No, I mean, do you feel like yourself?” Bobby elaborated. “Anything strange or… different?”_

_“Or demonic?” Dean shot straight to the point. “Bobby, how many times I have to prove I'm me?”_

_“Yeah, well, listen. No demon’s letting you loose out of their hearts. They gotta have something nasty planned,” the old man reasoned._

_“I feel fine,” Dean answered in a low voice._

_“Yeah, well, we don’t know what they’re planning. We got a pile of questions and no shovel. We need help,” Sam summed up._

_“I know a psychic a few hours from here,” Bobby offered. “Something this big, maybe she’s heard the other side talking.”_

_“Hell, yeah, it’s worth a shot,” Dean jumped right in._

_“I’ll be back,” Bobby got up and stepped out of the room to phone this mysterious person._

_Sam, Dean and I remained together. Sam gave back a necklace to his older brother and asked him what was Hell like. Again, Dean lied._

_“Dean,” I got his attention, “you’re right. There is nothing demonic inside you. I can see it.”_

_“Finally, someone believes me.”_

_“Dean…” I looked at him but I struggled with the words._

_I wanted to say: forgive me, I'm sorry. Something of the sort but I just couldn’t. I felt I didn’t deserve to say it, let alone, be forgiven._

_“I’m glad you’re back,” was all I could say._

_He gave me a side smile._

_“Yeah. It’s good to be back.”_

_Next thing I remember we were driving down the interstate in single file towards Pamela’s place. As you might have guessed, she’s the psychic Bobby used to know. Her house was actually pretty nice and clean. She, herself, was very pretty. She was tall for a woman, I guess. I think around 1.70 m, had beautiful blue eyes, long, dark hair and very nice factions. She was also a bit muscular which, I particularly, find it as a plus but, anyways._

_Bobby introduced us and then went straight to business._

_“So you hear anything?”_

_“I Ouija’d my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know who broke your boy out or why,” she answered._

_“So what’s next?” Bobby sounded half defeated._

_“A séance, I think,” she sighed. “See if we can see who did the deed.”_

_“You’re not gonna summon the damn thing here?” the old man now sounded unsure._

_“No,” Pamela smiled. “I just wanna get a sneak peak at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal.”_

_“I'm game,” Dean agreed._

_Bobby sighed and we all followed Pam to a contiguous room. She prepared the table, closed the curtains, got the candles and we were good to go._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wait! I'm so confused right now. Why did you need Pamela if you are a witch? Can’t you do that too?” the last voice finally joined in. 

“Ok. Here goes. As a witch I can do most of what a psychic can, but then again, anyone can really try out some stuff like the Ouija board. Difference is psychic’s rate of success is actually pretty high. That without considering how much more control they may have over the circumstances. Is like in video games. A level 1 can’t control a level 50 but a level 45 has a better chance at actually standing their ground against the other. Eventually, by constant practice, the level 45 levels up to, say, level 60 while the level 1 has barely made it to level 10 in the same time span. 

“Psychics and witches are born level 45 whereas most people are a level 1. Now, the main difference between the firsts and seconds is that psychics are usually born with only one particular gift. Imagine sort of an X-men. They can be telepaths, telekinetic or that sort of thing. Like the special children Azazel made. 

“On the other hand, witches can expand in more than one area and with a spell or potion we can resemble to some extent the abilities of the psychics but not the other way around. There are many other technicalities of course but those are the main ones I guess. Like you might have guessed, Pamela had a natural talent to contact spirits, a field in which I didn’t have much practice. I think it was because I never had a good teacher but after that day, I forced myself to learn as much as I could. Did that answer your question?” Myriam asked. 

“I-I think so,” the young one answered a bit shakily. 

Myriam nodded and kept going with her story. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“Right,” Pam said once we were seated around the small table. “Take each other’s hands. And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched.”_

_Dean rolled up his sleeve and showed Pamela the hand imprinted on his skin._

_“Okay,” she said as she put her hand on top of it and took a deep breath. “I invoke, conjure and command you appear unto me before this circle.”_

_She repeated this chant a couple of times before the TV and the radio turned on, signal gone and only static coming from both. Then I heard it._

_“My name is Castiel. Please, stop this endeavor of yours. You could be harmed.”_

_“No. Sorry Castiel, I don’t scare easy,” Pamela refuted confidently._

_“Castiel?” Dean asked._

_“It’s name. It’s whispering to me, warning me to turn back.”_

_Honestly, more than a whisper I heard almost a plea._

_“Pamela, I think you should listen to him,” I urged._

_“No! I can do this,” she said and kept up with the chant._

_The table shook, the candles trembled, the TV got louder. Bobby tried to intervene as well a moment later._

_“Maybe we should stop.”_

_“I almost got it,” Pamela insisted. “I command you, show me your face.”_

_“Turn back. This is your last warning,” Castiel said._

_“Show me your face now!” she yelled one last time._

_The fire of the candles flared up, Pamela screamed in pain. I could see her eyes burning off her skull. By instinct I let go of Bobby to cover what was left of them and just, for a split second, I got a glimpse of what she saw and it was gone._

_“Call 911!” Bobby urged, Sam bolted up._

_I held her tight so she wouldn’t fall from the chair, then, realization hit her. She gasped._

_“I can’t see,” Pam sobbed. “I can’t see. Oh, God. Oh, God.”_

_Bobby and I stayed with Pamela at the hospital while the boys grabbed some lunch. I wasn’t hungry but I was sure they did and, to be honest, there was nothing to do for Pam but to wait out of ICU. Later we learned that the diner they went to was crawling with demons._

_It turns out that Dean’s return to Earth was Hell’s #1 trending topic and most of them were ultimately terrified._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“A demon? Scared?” the same voice as last time spoke up again with the faintest tone of a little boy in his voice.

“Yeah. No one knew nothing about the mysterious Castiel or why they were interested in Dean. All that mattered was that they couldn’t drag him back out of fear that it was against the wishes of upper hierarchies. They were scared of the uncertainty, scared to piss off the wrong person,” she explained. 

“But, didn’t demons knew of angels? Couldn’t they have suspected or assumed it was them?” Namjoon asked very puzzled.

“Let me answer you with another question. Why did you assume it was an angel that got Dean out?”

“Well, you said that they were worse than demons so I assume they are more powerful although I can’t think of why an angel would do it,” he answered after a moment of consideration. 

“Exactly. You assumed it was an angel because I told you so. I have validated their existence. I’ve assured you such things exist. When all this happened, most low level demons never suspected that angels were real. As I told you before, demons are created when the souls of the damn spend too much time down there and become corrupt. Only the highest and oldest levels of Hell were aware of this… lets call it: secret. There were very few souls so old that they had actually seen an angel. Angels don’t like coming down to Earth. They found it boring and infuriating at the same time. Most of them hate humanity for taking away daddy’s attention,” she sighed. “Makes sense?”

“I… think so,” Namjoon answered. Some of the others nodded their agreement, the rest were still as statues but didn’t disagree. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 _Later that night Bobby and I ran into the boys’ destroyed room. Dean told us he was sleeping when he heard a pitch so strong it literally made his ears bleed. We jumped into Bobby’s car (because the Impala was nowhere to be found) and began driving without Sam. Dean had been having this idea of summoning Castiel and what happened at the motel just reinforced his decision. Dean phoned his brother._

_“Why the hell didn’t you tell him?” Bobby was the first to argue._

_“Cause he’d just try to stop us,” Dean answered absent mindedly._

_“From what?” Bobby was really pissed._

_“Summoning this thing,” he was dead set. “It’s time we face it head on.”_

_“You can’t be serious,” Bobby still wasn’t thrilled about the idea._

_“As a heart attack,” Dean declared. “It’s high noon, baby.”_

_“We don’t know what it is,” Bobby complained. “It could be a demon, it could be anything.”_

_“So then we gotta be ready for anything,” Dean countered. “We got the bigtime magic knife, you got an arsenal in the trunk.”_

_“This is a bad idea,” Bobby kept going._

_“Bobby is right Dean. You won’t kill Castiel with that knife,… or with anything in the trunk for that matter. At best, you will get his attention,” I finally spoke up._

_“Oh, so you want to share with the class what you know? We are dying over here to know,” Dean snapped quite mad I hadn’t said anything until then._

_“It’s just… I-I got a glimpse of him back at Pamela’s. If it turns out I’m right and Castiel is what I think he is… lets just say we might be in trouble,” I responded._

_“Well, why didn’t you say so before? And why does it always have to be a friggin mystery with you?” he scolded me._

_“I’m sorry,” I lowered my eyes. “Force of habit I guess.”_

_“So?” Dean insisted after a pause._

_“So? So what?” I was honestly a bit confused._

_“What is it?!” he said exasperated and rolling his eyes. “What are we up against?”_

_“I really hope I'm wrong but let’s start laying the trap and I’ll tell you while we are at it.”_

_“Well, anyone ask me, I think we could use Sam for this,” Bobby barged in._

_“No, he’s better off where he is,” Dean concluded._

_We drove a few more miles and found an abandoned barn. Bobby parked and we started to work as soon as we got in. Using aerosol paint we drew every sigil and trap we knew to cover all the available space._

_“It’s a hell of an art project you got going there,” Dean joked as he saw Bobby finishing his last sigil._

_“How are you doing?” he asked the younger man._

_“Stakes, iron, silver, salt, the knife,” Dean listed. “We’re set to catch anything I’ve ever heard of.”_

_“This is still a bad idea,” the old man grumbled._

_“Yeah, Bobby, I heard you the first ten times,” Dean huffed annoyed. “What I’ve failed to hear is an answer from little Miss Sunshine over there.”_

_I didn’t have the courage to tell him or Bobby what I could possibly know or how I was almost completely certain so I took my time finishing the last trap. When I finally turned around, I blurted out:_

_“An angel. I think it was an angel”._

_“Angel?” Dean asked in disbelief after the longest silence yet. “There’s no such thing.”_

_“Well, you asked. That’s what I think and you know I don’t lie,” was my answer. A bit dry if you ask me but I was really nervous._

_“Fine then, what do you say we ring the dinner bell and if you’re right I’ll owe you a pie,” he bargained._

_“Deal,” I said just a tiny bit less tense._

_Bobby recited the spell and we waited. And waited, and waited, and waited. We lowered our guard._

_“You sure you did the ritual right?” Dean voiced out like an impatient kid._

_Bobby gave him THE look._

_“Sorry. Touchy, touchy,” Dean apologized._

_Not a minute later a powerful wind smacked against the barn. The laminated roof was almost blown away. We could hear thunders outside. The earth trembled._

_“Wishful thinking but maybe it's just the wind,” Dean joked again._

_The light bulbs exploded, one by one and the heavy plank that kept the doors shut, cracked like a toothpick. A man walked in as if strolling through a park. With everything going on around us, it was a bit difficult to aim and shoot. Yet we did. Round after round but the man kept walking towards us, unbothered. We lowered the guns and Dean grabbed the demon killing knife._

_“Who are you?” he asked as soon as Castiel stopped in front of him. His back to Bobby and me._

_“I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition,” was his introduction and modest answer._

_“Yeah?” Dean said in a dark, sarcastic tone. “Well, thanks for that.”_

_Castiel grinned and nodded sincerely but Dean stabbed him anyways right where the heart is. The new one showed no sensation or emotion. Moreover, he simply took the knife out and dropped it. The wound healed in seconds. Dean backed away._

_Bobby took this as his cue and tried to hit him with a crowbar. Castiel stopped the attack with one hand, not even bothering to look back. When he did turn around, he touched Bobby’s forehead with two of his fingers and the old hunter collapsed where he stood. Dean’s face was one of disbelief. I simply couldn’t take my eyes off of Castiel holding on to my tesbih for life’s sake._

_“We need to talk Dean,” he said and then turned towards me. “Alone.”_

_“I-I’ll… wait outside,” I said, starting to leave._

_“You can’t be serious!” Dean yelled at me._

_“You’ll be fine I promise. I won't let anything happen to you again,” I smiled at him and kept going._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Were you right?” Jungkook asked.

“About what?” Myriam asked back though she suspected the answer.

“Was he an angel?”

“Of course he was. With that name it was hard to miss but I saw him, the real him, not his vessel. I must admit that now I'm able to see the physical body he chose but it was hard for me to do so. I was also right about letting him speak privately with Dean. He told Dean that he had rescued him because God commanded it, that they had work for him,” she said. 

“Work?”

“Yeah,” Myriam raised and lowered her eyebrows once. “Three days later we feared we had learned the reason behind the rescue. We were visited by the Witnesses…”

“Witnesses?” Namjoon asked this time.

“Yeah. The Witnesses are people who have seen and died at the hands of the supernatural. They can be distinguished from other ghosts by a symbol branded on some part of their body. The Rise of the Witnesses was one of the signs of the Apocalypse and one of the seals to break Lucifer out of his cage.”

“WHAT?! Oi! Wait a minute! You can’t be serious. I mean, THE Apocalypse? Really?” Jin intervened in a high pitch. 

Myriam nodded. 

“According to the angels, the world should’ve ended in 2010.”

“Yet, here we are,” Namjoon ventured slowly. 

“Yet, here we are indeed. Stopping it is one of the many reasons they hate us,” she sighed. “This is the point where everything gets a bit complicated so try to keep up. According to the angels and the book of apocalypse in the Bible, the world should have ended due to the death match Michael and Lucifer were meant to have. If Lucifer won, humanity would have lost everything. Disease, massive destruction and the armies of Hell marching on Earth would have consumed humans in a few years.

“On the other hand, if Michael won, angels promised us Heaven on Earth. It sounds too good to be true if you ask me and there was a small clause in the contract that proved it. I told you about demonic possessions but I think I’ve failed to mention that angels can do the same.”

“They can possess people?!” Jimin asked in panic. 

“Uh-huh. Buuuut, there is a catch. Demons possess at will but in order to be on Earth without killing anyone with their true form, angles got to ask for permission and the vessel must be strong enough to contain them. Usually, it takes a person with a very special bloodline to successfully contain an angel. They are not that common. Let alone vessels for archangels. Those are almost impossible to find. Archangels are Heaven’s most formidable and terrifying weapons which is why they mostly never walk the Earth but when the word spread that demons were prompting the Apocalypse, they got involved. That’s what Castiel told us at first though. 

“I mean. I don’t blame him. He was a soldier like the rest of his brothers and sisters. He completed missions and retired to Heaven. He never doubted or suspected that the orders didn’t come from his Father but his oldest brother instead. No one from the highest ranks told anything to the others,” she sighed. 

“I-I’m sorry but y-you lost me there,” Hobi said. 

“Mm-hmm. I agree with hyung there. Why did you stop it? Wouldn’t it be a good thing to have Heaven on Earth?” Jungkook complemented. 

“This death match would have killed half the world’s population if Michael won and almost all of it if Lucifer had beaten his older brother. That without considering their vessels. But I'm getting ahead of the story again.”

“Wait! So are you trying to say that Michael had to find his vessel before Lucifer was out or everything would have been lost?” Jin reasoned.

“Um, not exactly,” she answered. 

“But why not? I mean, if he escaped he would have jumped inside the first dude he found and end it all, wouldn’t he?” he insisted.

Myriam gave a sad, side smile.

“I think you haven’t understood it yet. Fallen or not, Lucifer was first and foremost an Archangel and, as such, he needed as much permission from his vessel as Michael. Also, to clear up this other point, both of them knew perfectly well who their true vessels were. Would you like to guess?” she encouraged. 

“The… Winchesters?” Namjoon was the first to answer. 

“Correct. This meant that they would have to kill each other while being possessed by two of the most powerful beings in the universe. They flatly refused to do that. They would die for one another in a heartbeat, not kill each other for anything in the world. That is something the angels couldn’t understand. At least most of them. There were a couple of angels that supported the guys’ decision and it was mostly due to them that we were able to avert the ultimate calamity.”


	6. Chapter 6

“So…” the huskiest voice could be heard again from a corner, “to sum it up. The Winchesters, Bobby and you were in a rush to prevent the demons to break all the seals to free the Devil from Hell while the angels were trying to persuade Dean to agree to being possessed by Archangel Michael so he could fight in case Satan was able to escape?”

Myriam nodded but added:

“Not all the seals though. According to Castiel, there were hundreds of seals to choose from but they only needed 66 seals to free Lucifer.”

“Mm,” was all she got as a response. 

The others were visibly more shaken, some more than others. Jungkook was sort of enjoying the whole plot and mysticism of it all and Myriam could almost hear Namjoon’s brain wheels trying to keep up with all the little details. 

“So, how did they stop Apocalypse? Or you lot, or whatever?” Yoongi asked in a slightly higher volume than last time. 

Even if his tone sounded uninterested, Myriam knew he wasn’t as indifferent as he tried to pretend for the sake of everyone else. 

“Well, first thing is first. The angels that helped us were Castiel, Anna and another one that I’ll get to tell you about later. At first, Castiel was the perfect soldier just like every other garrison angel but the thing is, he was appointed as Dean’s, sort of, direct line with Heaven. He has changed so much. You have no idea. He started to like us, I guess. To understand us. He began to be curious about humanity not as vermin but as actual living beings that were much more complex than an ameba. 

“I think the right way to describe his change in a word I would have to say: humanization. He became more human,” Myriam smiled sweetly at the memory. “Of course that had a price on him. He became a fugitive, neglected from Heaven, unable to return to his home or his family. His powers were also diminished because he was cut out of the source, he became a fallen angel, rhetorically speaking. Believe me, it wasn’t easy for him but once he made up his mind, he owned his decision. Thanks to him, Sam and Dean were able to hide from other angels and we could move faster through greater distances because he could fly us to and from those places.”

“Hide?” Jungkook asked.

“Yeah,” she answered slowly. “You know, being an insider he knew a lot of different tricks and spells to hide from them, banish them, trap them and even kill them. He shared all this knowledge with us but it took the coming of Anna along with other inconsistencies on behalf of those in higher command positions than him to understand that he was a mere pawn being manipulated. Due to their natural distrust against anyone new (especially supernatural beings), the Winchesters fought hard against the other angels who were intending to control us. As for the hiding… I’ll tell you later please remind me about it if I don’t mention it.

“Anna was another fallen angel that we got to meet. She was really nice. Told us that she had chosen to leave Heaven and underwent a process to separate her grace from her so she could be reborn as a human. Her wish came true but with everything going on, her past life called out to her and she contacted us in order to help her become an angel once more. Not because she hated being a human, she enjoyed being human but the events needed her to be an angel. She taught me a lot in the short time we were together but I might tell you later on about that too. The important thing here is for you to know that we succeeded in our mission. 

“By the time we met her, we had also learned what Sam had been doing during the time Dean was in Hell. He had been working with Ruby to increase his psychic powers Apparently, the special children could enhance their abilities by ingesting demon blood and Ruby knew of this. Therefore, she had been sort of ‘helping’ Sam to control his powers and teaching him how to use them in order to exorcise people without killing the host. Neither Dean nor me liked the idea of Sam doing that sort of stuff and it was worse when we realized he hid it from us.”

“But isn’t exorcising without killing a good thing?” Taehyung’s innocent voice spoke up. 

“I guess it is but the truth was that Sam hadn’t been able to control that ability until a very short while back so he had pretty much killed all the others he had performed this kind of exorcism anyways. Besides, the demon blood was beginning to cause him an addiction like I had never seen before. It was stronger than an addiction to heroin or cocaine and the worst part were the side effects it caused. They were opposite to human addictions. Instead of killing you and making you weak the more you consume, demon blood only made Sam stronger the more he drank. Believe me, it was very bad. We had to lock him and tie him up in Bobby’s panic room to try to clean his system. But like any other drug, he began to show signs of the abstinence syndrome. To say it was bad, it’s an understatement. 

“At this point Cas was suspicious but still followed Heaven’s commands and, among some pretty stupid stuff he did I will tell you that he aided in Anna’s capture so she was taken back to Heaven to be ‘re-adjusted’ and he also let Sam free of the panic room. This was already a problem but the game changer was the fact that we had just learned where Lilith was. Sam was mad with revenge thoughts and as soon as he found a chance, he left us to finish what he had prepared himself to do. Ruby assisted him, providing him with his drug, enough to actually kill the oldest demon of Hell. That was the day Cas opened his eyes and also the first time we lost him but he put his life on the line to help Dean and me reach Sam and prevent him from killing Lilith.”

“Why?” Jungkook asked.

“Killing Lilith was the last seal. She knew it and all that time she had conspired with Ruby to get Sam to that exact moment. To prepare him to free Lucifer. To strengthen his body to become the perfect vessel. That was the missing piece in Ruby’s mystery. She never intended to help us, her betrayal was the greatest of them all. At least for Sam. 

“To top it all, Cas realized that angels had betrayed him as well. Every loss he had had among his garrison was all for nothing. The higher commands in Heaven had intended Apocalypse to happen and were the puppeteers behind the demons’ actions,” Myriam explained. “Before you ask, I can already see the question in your faces. It was the same one we made when we found out. Turns out angels were tired of waiting for their Father. They believed that prompting this event would bring him back or, at the very least, bring a change so huge that they wouldn’t be bored anymore.” 

“So, that’s how you stopped Apocalypse? Preventing Sam to kill Lilith?” Namjoon conjectured. 

“No. We were too late. Sam killed Lilith and Lucifer was released from Hell. That day Dean killed Ruby for good but we lost Cas. His own kind turned on him and for his defiance he was killed,” was her answer.

Everyone’s faces demonstrated just how powerful the word “kill” was. So many questions could be read on their faces. Some were too tired as if they had heard enough of the story and wanted to drop out but they had all promised. 

“We were able to escape Lucifer though and Sam was cleansed. In a flash we were transported from the convent in which Satan was freed to a plane that was passing by. We believed that there was only one being that could have done such a thing: God, but, how to be sure? I guess we only had to have faith. Still, those couple of days were very hard to endure. 

“The demon Meg was back, Bobby was possessed briefly and was about to kill Dean. I’m sure the demon never expected the old man to fight as much as he did because Bobby regained control of his body only enough to stab himself with the demon killing knife rather than stabbing Dean. Please, don’t make that face, Bobby was ok… mostly. We took him to ER after I treated his wound. The doctors said he would live but it would take time for him to be able to walk again,” a small laugh escaped Myriam’s lips. “He was pissed. He wanted to do his life normally, specially after knowing that Lucifer was on Earth looking for a provisional vessel. Like I said, those are very rare but there are a couple. 

“Things among the brothers were tense as well. Sam wanted to talk about what had happened. To ask Dean for some understanding and forgiveness but Dean… well, Dean can be a little complex in his simplicity. He couldn’t even look at Sam in the eye for over two seconds, let alone talk about any of it. He sort of… clamed up. He went very deep in his mental fortress and wouldn’t allow anyone in. Not Sam, not Bobby, not me, not anyone. We could only wait for him to explode,” she sighed. “Ever since I met them, that has always been his style. A very toxic one if you ask me but that is the way he deals with things, letting them pile up until they burst out. I really don’t approve of that tactic but I guess there is no point in trying to change Dean.”

Myriam was quiet for a moment which Yoongi used to ask:

“Did you really believe God saved you three? Did it really increase your faith?”

“Tough question. The first one is easier so I’ll say, yeah, we believe that to be the truth. As for the second one… I'm a bit unsure about Sam and Dean but I think it did grow a little bit for me but not because of the rescue or the cleansing of Sam,” she paused. “Cas… he… he was back. After being pulverized by Archangel Raphael, he suddenly appeared in front of us when we needed him most. That’s when my faith boosted. I thought that, maybe, He would get involved. That, maybe, He would talk his children out of it all. Then Cas offered to try and find him so he took off on his very own quest. 

“Again it was only us and we were neck deep in trouble. We had to confront three sure threats plus deal with Lucifer and face one more adversary we were unsure of how to handle. All of that while dodging the demons that wanted Dean dead so he wouldn’t say ‘yes’ and the angels who consistently attacked Sam, Bobby and me in order to pressure Dean to say ‘yes’ to Michael. To top it all, there were other human hunters who heard the rumors of the Winchesters and their role to play in the world’s end and were attempting to kill them as well. I'm telling you, a mess,” she groaned at the memory. “It was a horrible year.”

“It does sound bad. So, how did you stop the Apocalypse?” Hobi asked a bit shakily and a tiny smile.

“Wait! Noona, you asked us to remind you about the hiding,” Jungkook intervened. 

“Oh that. Cas branded Sam and Dean’s ribcage. By using the Enochian alphabet, he carved a spell into their bones so they could be hidden from other angels,” she answered nonchalantly.   
  
“Branded in Enochian?” Namjoon picked up. 

“This… is a bit embarrassing,” Myriam looked down. “Do you remember a couple years ago a time you all woke up in the middle of the night with just a few minutes of difference due to an intense pain in different parts of your bodies?”

For a moment they all started to think back but Jin beat them all.

“WAS THAT YOU?!”

“I’m sorry, truly sorry but I was just too worried about you. Cas taught me how to do this kind of branding and I just wanted you boys to be safe. Haven’t you wondered why you have never been possessed by a demon? I knew you wouldn’t be able to have the sigil tattooed like the Winchesters and to give it to you as a charm wouldn’t work because you are always changing accessories. I just had to make sure that even if you became targets, you wouldn’t be possessed. Of course I didn’t brand you with the angel hiding spell, there was no use in drawing any additional attention from them to you but I didn’t want to put you through the trauma of a demonic exorcism,” Myriam explained in a very concerned tone. 

“WHAT? So you are saying that you have carved an anti-possession symbol on one of our bones? For real?” Jimin asked with his eyes very open. 

“Yeah,” Myriam confessed. “Would you ever forgive me?”

Silence.

“Girl, that really hurt you know?” Hobi finally said with a more relaxed and teasing tone. “But I guess you are telling the truth and really didn’t want us to be hurt. I'm good.”

“Yeah, me too,” followed Namjoon. “In your position I would have probably done the same.”

“I would have liked to be consulted about it first,” Jin said in his fake angry voice, “but I guess I understand too why you had to do it like you did. I don’t think that before today I would have believed you even if you had told us your story so, we’re good… but only if you buy our next food supply.”

His tone was playful at the edges and that brought a smile to Myriam’s face.

“Deal.”

“If you add a delivery from Panda Express in there I’ll do too,” Taehyung continued with the bargaining. 

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes in fake annoyance. 

“Woo hoo! Then we’re good,” Jimin said throwing his arms up.

“Same here noona,” Jungkook nodded shyly. 

“We’re good but next time please do ask,” Yoongi said a bit annoyed. 

Myriam laughed a bit.

“Ok. I promise. Should I keep going?”

With everyone nodding she drew in a deep breath and continued. 

“As I was saying, along with Lucifer, three formidable enemies arose. Revelations 6.1-6 to be precise. Though the seventh and eight passage weren’t what we expected.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Namjoon asked.

“You know, the book of Revelations in the Bible. The sixth passage talks about the four Horsemen of Apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence and Death. Once again, let me tell you, not fun at all. War was the first Horseman we encountered and the first one we were able to defeat. It began as a very strange case and it didn’t make that much sense to us who or what we were up against when we started but once we put one-and-one together it became obvious. 

“Then we faced Famine. To be honest I’m not entirely sure who made me more uncomfortable, Pestilence or Famine but I think it’s a very tough call. The effect both had on humanity was absolutely repulsive,” she paused having her face contorted in disgust at the memory. 

“So, if you could choose now, would you rather fight War the four times rather than facing either Famine or Pestilence? I mean, I get Pestilence and I understand how famine is a horrible way to die but why would it be disgusting?” Namjoon formulated. 

“Yes! And a thousand times yes! But I think it’s because you don’t fully understand their powers. War played tricks on people’s minds to make them fight each other. For example, Sam, Dean and I cornered him in a small town where he had made half the population believe that the other half was being possessed by demons. With his power of proximity, he made half A see that half B had completely black eyes. You know like any average demon would. But he made half B see the same thing as half A so both sides were killing each other. War had a blast. 

“Famine didn’t make you die of hunger. He woke your deepest hunger until you died trying to satiate yourself. For example, say, Yoongi, your favorite thing to do in the world is sleep, correct?” the boy nodded his confirmation. “What Famine would cause on you is this uncontrollable desire to sleep more and more and more until you felt satisfied but with him around, you would never find your fill. Therefore, you would continue to sleep until the lack of food, water and the blisters in your body killed you. Another example, Hobi, you like Sprite. Famine’s effect on you would have forced you to drink it until you died either by asphyxia or by the gas in the soda. Is it a little bit clearer how his powers work?”

Everyone understood all too well now and couldn’t help but see the horrible images that Myriam had loosely described in their heads. 

“Ok, so you get why fighting him was very difficult. The deaths around him were very gruesome and none of us was immune to his power. Not even Cas. Well, I guess Cas was but not his vessel and because it affected the human body of Jimmy Novak, it limited Cas’ actions. It was harder to defeat him than his brother War but it was done. Two down, two to go. 

“Now, the problem of this whole thing was that due to their alliance with Lucifer, they were always surrounded by demons which were their muscle and communication antenna. So that meant that Pestilence was ready for us and it was both hard to track him down as well as defeating him. He was waiting for our move and when we thought we could surprise him he infected us with one of his terrible diseases. It was horrible. I’d never felt closer to death than that day. I truly didn’t like him. 

“Finally, we were up against the eldest of the brothers and the most powerful by far: Death. To be entirely honest there was a silent consensus among us that we were terrified to go up against him but there was simply no other way. I even remember Bobby telling us that the last time Death had been on Earth, Noah had been building a boat. We had tried and failed to prevent his summoning, the only possible way we could power him down was by surprising him before he even started working. In the end I found out that I actually liked him. Death’s cool and can be rather nice,” Myriam smiled at the memory of the skinny, old man eating the best junk food he could find. 

“What do you mean Death is cool?” Jin asked a bit agitated. 

“Well, what do you want me to say? He is. Let me put it this way. When Lucifer was freed, the other Horsemen just ran towards him and embraced his plan just because it sounded fun. Death, on the other side, being older and much wiser had to be specially summoned and bound by a spell to do what Lucifer ordered him to do. Believe me, if there is anyone that can be neutral in the universe, that is Death. He just wanted that leash forced on him to be taken off so he could keep working as usual and to do that, he agreed to co-operate with us and gave us the key to stop the Apocalypse,” the lady explained.

“What was it? The key I mean,” Hobi asked.

“Oh! No, no, Death literally gave us A key to stop it all,” Myriam corrected.

“Sooo, after you guys killed Death’s brothers, he still handed you a key to stop the Apocalypse?” Jin reasoned reluctantly.

“What? No, no, no. You got it all wrong again. I never said we killed War, Famine and Pestilence, there is no way of killing them, at least not that I know of. Yet, there was one way of taking away most of their power. Enough to make them crawl back to the hole they had come up from. Each of the Horsemen possessed a ring that is, sort of, the origin of their strength. Take that away from them and they belittle. By using their rings together and chanting the spell Death gave us we would be able to open up the entrance to Lucifer’s cage and stash him in again. That was how, in theory, we were supposed to stop Apocalypse,” she kept explaining. 

“With… the…Horsemen’s rings?” Yoongi sounded dubious. “If Death was the last Horseman you encountered, how did you know you had to take the rings from the other three in the first place?”

Myriam’s smile faded completely and her eyes were drawn to the floor again.

“Oh, that. Well, remember I told you there was another being from Heaven that helped us? He… mmm… Lo… The Tr…” she had trouble finding the right words. “Let us rewind a bit here. Before the horsemen, before Lucifer, before even Sam was stabbed by Jake, the Winchesters encountered a being called the Trickster. Old Norwegians used to call him Loki. And, yes, deities from other religions are real, all of them from Zeus to Odin; from Ganesh and Kali to Ra and Zao Shen. Let’s make this even easier, think of any deity of any mythology of old and I can assure you they real but that is not the point. 

“The point here is that the Trickster started targeting those two way before this whole mess. Before Cas appeared they didn’t think of him in any other way that wasn’t a lunatic demigod. The truth was, as Cas pointed out, the Trickster was way too powerful. Too much for a simple pagan god. Therefore, Sam and Dean began to play with the theories and discovered that Loki was not a demigod at all but rather an angel. 

“I had never personally encountered the fake Loki but I had heard the stories and definitely was very surprised when I finally met him. You see, as I was growing up and still struggling with my own powers, this man approached me in a very delicate point of my life,” she let out a small smile. “I knew right away what he was or at the very least thought I knew. When I asked who he was, he answered:

_“Call me Uncle”_

“Imagine my surprise when I learned that this mentor of mine had been playing tricks on my beloved Winchesters. That he didn’t want to be seen for what and who he was. To this day I'm a bit unsure about who was more startled. Him to see me with Sam, Dean and Cas or me to see him pretend to be a Norse demigod. Anyhow, I learned who he really was that day after we managed to trap him inside a holy fire ring. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_“So which one are you?” Sam asked annoyed. “Grumpy? Sneezy? Or Douchey?”_

_Uncle was silent for a brief moment as if pondering his options here. Then he looked at Sam defiantly._

_“Gabriel, ok? They call me Gabriel,” his voice was very soft._

_“Gabriel? The archangel?” Sam corroborated._

_“Guilty.”_

_“Ok Gabriel,” Dean continued with the interrogation, “how does an archangel becomes a Trickster?”_

_“My own private witness protection,” he huffed irritated. “Skipped out of Heaven, had a face transplant, carved out my own little corner of the world until you two screwed it all up.”_

_“And what did Daddy say when you ran off and joined the pagans?” Dean asked mockingly._

_“Daddy doesn’t say anything about anything,” Gabriel responded still pretending to be calm._

_“Then what happened? Why’d you ditch?” Sam tried to understand._

_“Well, do you blame him? His brothers are heavyweight douche nozzles,” Dean kept teasing._

_“Shut your cake hole,” Gabriel warned as soon as Dean’s phrase was over. “You don’t know anything about my family. I loved my father, my brothers. Loved them, but watching them turn on each other tear at each other’s throats? I couldn’t bear it, ok!?” he yelled. “So I left. And now it’s happening all over again.”_

_“Then help us stop it,” Sam pleaded._

_“It can’t be stopped,” Gabriel answered bitterly looking at Sam._

_“You wanna see the end of the world?” Dean asked puzzled._

_“I want it to be over!” he finally let out in a cry of pain. “I have to sit back and watch my own brothers kill each other, thanks to you two! Heaven, Hell, I don’t care who wins! I just want it to be over!”_

_“It doesn’t have to be like that,” Sam countered energetically. “There has to be some way to pull the plug!”_

_Gabriel gave out a false laugh and responded harshly:_

_“You do not know my family. What you guys call the Apocalypse, I used to call it Sunday diner. That’s why there’s no stopping this, because this isn’t about a war. It’s about two brothers that loved each other and betrayed each other. You think you’d be able to relate.”_

_“What’re you talking about?” Sam asked._

_The archangel noted the confusion on the brothers’ faces, laughed and even let out a whistle._

_“You sorry sons of bitches. Why do you think you two are the vessels? Think about it,” he looked at Dean. “Michael, the big brother, loyal to an absent father,” then he turned to Sam. “And Lucifer, the little brother, rebellious of Daddy’s plan. You were born to this, boys. It’s your destiny! It was always you! As it is in Heaven, so it must be on Earth! One brother has to kill the other.”_

_“What the hell are you saying?” Dean shot back._

_“Why do you think I’ve always taken such an interest in you?” Gabriel paused. “Because from the moment Dad flipped on the lights around here, we knew it was all gonna end with you. Always.”_

_Both brothers were visibly agitated by the seas of information they were getting. Finally, it was Dean who broke the silence:_

_“No. That’s not gonna happen.”_

_“I’m sorry, but it is,” the prisoner assured and sighed. “Guys, I wish this were a TV show. Easy answers, endings wrapped up in a bow. But this is real and it’s gonna end bloody for all of us. That’s just how it’s gotta be.”_

_We felt hopeless and defeated. No one even moved for a while. Some more words were exchanged after that but what stuck with me the most that day was when we were about to leave._

_“You’re just gonna… You’re gonna leave me here forever?!” Gabriel yelled._

_“No,” Dean answered. “We’re not, because we don’t screw with people the way you do. And for the record, this isn’t about some prizefight between your brothers or some destiny that can’t be stopped! This is about YOU being too afraid to STAND up to your family!”_

_Dean activated the sprinklers to put out the fire._

_“Don’t say I never did anything for you,” he added before leaving._

_Gabriel stayed behind looking at us leave the warehouse we had been trapped in. The Winchesters, Cas and I left in the Impala._

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Myriam fell silent for a moment as well, letting all the memories of that day flood her mind. It was very painful to think of Gabriel. True, he hadn’t been a huge part of her life if she compared how long she had been alive against how many years this man had actively been part of it but he had left a mark. She knew him, or, as a minimum, thought she knew a part of him and when she actually began to figure him out…

“Noona?” Taehyung’s soft voice brought her back to the present. “You ok? You seemed… gone.”

“Sorry to worry you. I guess I was a little gone. Thanks for bringing me back,” she tried to smile at him.

“S-so, noona, y-y-you had known an archangel a-all this time?” Jungkook stammered a bit due to the excitement. “One that could actually be your secret weapon?”

That brought a short but pained laugh to the witch.

“I guess. I remember meeting him in the first half of the 16th century so I guess you can say we go waaaay back but… The thing is he appeared and disappeared as he pleased. No previous warning or anything. One morning he would be with me and the next day he would be gone or he would come to me one night while I dined and he would stay at my place for a week or a month and then would scat without even saying goodbye. 

"Furthermore, it would usually take fifty to eighty years between each visit so he was never really a constant in my life. Our relationship had always been like that and I was at peace with it but seeing that part of him that was so vulnerable and hurt just made me think about my own past. I wanted to make things right with him. The moment his true identity leaked, there were many pieces of my own personal puzzle that found their place. I had so much to ask him but that day wasn’t right.

“Needless to say that it didn’t take that long to encounter him again. Couple of months, tops. Some pagans were having a meeting to try and decide what to do with the whole Apocalypse situation. Sam, Dean and I went to investigate the disappearance of a group of people and found ourselves in the middle of it all. The pagans debated on what to do with us and I'm pretty sure they would have attempted to kill us if it hadn’t been for Hermes.”

“Wow! He saved you guys. What’s the story between you?” Hobi asked very enthusiastic. 

“Mmm… no, it wasn’t like that. In an attempt to save his own skin, he betrayed the others. He called Lucifer to the little motel we were at and explained what was happening. Lucifer killed him of course along with almost every other pagan god and goddess that was there that day. They simply weren’t a match for the fallen archangel. Not even his little brother,” she was silent.

“Wh…?” Hobi was about to ask.

“Gabriel appeared right in front of us. He wanted to prove Dean wrong so he came to our rescue. He confronted his older brother. Lucifer stabbed him,” silence again. “You wanna know what’s the worst part? I'm sure that if it had been Michael instead of Lucifer facing his younger brother that day, the outcome would have still been the same.”

Myriam sighed and looked up. She could see tears in some eyes but who was her to judge. She kept going. 

“Before he died, he gave us a tape and asked us to keep it safe. We did and we watched a pre-recorded message where he told us about the rings and the cage. Even after he was gone, he still looked out for us. At this point we already had War’s ring and now we knew exactly what to do. Fast forward again to the meeting with Death and his instructions. We had half a plan now. We knew the what but not the how. Well that was until Sam came up with it. Do you remember how Bobby avoided killing Dean while being possessed?” most heads nodded.

“Oh no. Don’t tell me…” Namjoon started.

“Yep,” she said slowly. “I mean, as a principle, it wasn’t impossible but the fact that he would have to regain control over his own body that would be possessed by Lucifer it was suicidal. Bobby told us that what he did was very difficult and other than him I had only heard about one more person who had been able to overcome the control of a powerful demon and that had been John Winchester. Plus, to be honest, no one wanted to see Sam jump into the pit, knowing that we wouldn’t even have a body to cremate. Still, nothing else came to our mind and it became our only option once Michael got a vessel replacement.” 

“Vessel replacement?” Jimin asked silently.

“Mm-hmm. Turns out that John Winchester had another kid with another woman. His name was Adam Milligan but when we learned about him both John and Adam were dead. However, considering how close Sam was to saying ‘yes’ to Lucifer, in a desperate move, Heaven resurrected Adam and pretty much forced him to say ‘yes’ to Michael. The plan wasn’t perfect but Adam would hold as a vessel just fine due to his bloodline,” she sighed again. “In short, Sam said ‘yes’ but was unable to regain control until it was almost too late. Lucifer and Michael were about to fight when Sam managed to win over. He jumped into the cage and brought Michael along for the ride. There, Apocalypse averted,” Myriam took in a deep breath. 

A minute passed by, then another and finally young Taehyung ventured with a voice on the verge of tears:

“What happened then?”

Myriam swallowed hard.

“Sam and Dean had both talked about what they would like the other to do in case one of them didn’t make it. In this case, Dean went on to live with an ex-girlfriend that had a kid of her own. He was a great dad I'm sure. I… was just not strong enough to stay this time. I said goodbye to Dean, Cas and Bobby and I moved to Korea. Got a job and met you guys,” she smiled. “It’s truly been one of the best decisions of my life.”

She paused.

“What about Jo and her mom and that other friend… the hacker? Or Pamela? Did the FBI agent help you with your new documents like in the movies? I'm sure you talked with them before coming, right?” Jimin tried to use his cheerful voice to take the mood somewhere else. 

“Ash and Agent Henriksen, I didn’t get to say goodbye. Jo and Ellen I did as well as Pam,” Myriam said in a sad tone. 

“Oh, so are you still in contact?” Jimin kept going.

“No. They are dead,” she stated, eyes lost in the past.

“Wha… who?” Taehuyng asked this time.

“All of them. Ash, Andy, Ellen, Jo, Pamela, Henriksen, Anna, Adam, Gabriel, tch,” she smiled as if in defeat. “And that is just the beginning of the list.”


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to feel, unsure of wanting to fulfill their promise and keep going. Myriam allowed a minute more of complete silence before picking up the pace again.

“Took me a long time to reconnect with them but, again, it was Bobby who made the call and you wanna know what he asked?” she furrowed her brow in crescent anger at the memory. “He wanted to know all about basties. Basties! He called because he wanted to know about an Asian monster!”

The word blurted out of her mouth almost like poison. She was so angry she was almost panting. It was difficult to control her breathing with the huge knot threatening to block her throat.

“Then, almost by the end of the call he casually mentions: Oh, thought you might want to know, Sam’s back and Dean is hunting again. I had been writing to Dean now and then and he never even mentioned something as important as Sam coming back from the Cage or his decision of leaving Lisa and Ben and going back to hunting,” she covered her eyes and let out another laugh trying to pull herself together for the sake of the guys around her. “It was at that moment I understood why Dean never answered my calls. I'm sure he knew that I would know he was lying so he limited himself to only write to me. Anyways, I re-established my usual communication with them and helped them as much as I could. I didn’t want to lose my job here so I had to learn how to handle my time properly. It was tough.

“The next three years were very chaotic and I’ll only tell you the most important events. Ready? Ok. Here goes, Cas killed Raphael, the last archangel, to prevent him from freeing Michael and Lucifer and resuming the Apocalypse. Hell had a new ruler. His name is Crowley. Cas accidentally freed the Leviathans from Purgatory, with Crowley’s help, which gave us a lot of trouble because we didn’t know how to kill them. 

“We found out about the Word of God which are three tablets, handwritten by Metatron, God’s scribe. He took dictation when the universe was created and this tablets were special because they only talked about angels, demons and leviathans. Things like how to power them up or down, how they came to be, how to trap them, all those sort of things. 

“We met Kevin Tran a 17-year-old boy who was the new prophet and the only being aside from Metatron who could read the things. With his help we were able to send the leviathans back to Purgatory with a special spell but the blast absorbed both Cas and Dean. So I began to look for a way in and out the place to save them. I did this on my own because Sam was, in lack of a better way to put it, in shock and needed some time to process the whole thing. Oh, and the leader of the leviathans had killed Bobby a few months back.

“Moving on, it was very hard but I found the place were Earth and Purgatory meet and, since I couldn’t go in, I only prayed Dean would come out. He did, eventually and this time he did call me. I was relieved and felt proud of myself for leaving an emergency bag very close by so he would be able to re-insert himself back in society. 

“After that, Heaven, which was total chaos since Raphael was killed, finally came up with a temporary leader. Her name was Naomi. She was ruthless and, truth be told, I didn’t like her and yet, I find her more likable than Metatron. Anyways, she got Cas out of Purgatory, brainwashed him and used him to find the angel tablet all while Crowley had in his possession the demon tablet that Kevin had begun to translate. 

“Kevin told us that there was a spell there which consisted of three steps that would allow the user to close the Gates of Hell forever, trapping all the demons inside. So, of course, we attempted to complete the spell but at the same time…”

“Whoa, whoa whoa! SLOW DOWN! Just, please, slow down,” Jin finally intervened Myriam’s quick talking and recounting of the facts.

The lady finally realized just how little air she had taken in during this passage of the story and panted a bit while trying to reorganize her mind. 

“Jeez, for a moment there I thought you were rapping,” Jin kept going in order to alleviate the situation. 

All around everyone was just taking a full minute to absorb again all of what she had said. It was too much. Some were having a bit of a hard time keeping up with the names. The rappers, even with their skills, were a bit confused with her rapid words. 

“Told you this part was chaotic,” Myriam finally spoke up. “But I promise I’m getting to the end of it. I’ll try to go slower.”

“That’s all we ask,” Namjoon smiled a bit tired. 

She smiled back and gulped. 

“But at the same time that the Winchesters were doing the three trials to close the Gates of Hell, we found out about their past and how they were Legacies. Apparently, on their father’s side of the family, all the men had been part of this secret society that was keeper and recorder of all things supernatural. Erudite people. They were called The Men of Letters. Apparently this association was or… is, I'm not really sure, active, all around the world and they have contact only with a handful of hunters. The elite, lets call it. In the US this elite was the Campbell family which, surprise, surprise, was Sam and Dean mom’s side of the family. 

“I remember the first time we encountered a Cupid, he told us that the marriage of John Winchester and Mary Campbell had been a high priority issue since those two were born. We didn’t understand at the moment why this was so important until we found out about the Men of Letters,” she paused. “How did Sammy describe it? Making the brains and the brawn come together? I think something along those lines. And I mean, he wasn’t wrong. Both brothers are as brilliant as they are deadly. 

“Anyways, where I wanted to get with this little piece of information is that they found a bunker full of weapons, books and reports on supernatural stuff. Hell, even information I struggled to get was there. It’s such an amazing place. I love it. I have a room all for my own there. Even if the bunker was built around the first half of last century, it was designed to pretty much run on its own without any private or public intervention. It has it all. Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, practice room, garage, library, dungeon and so much more,” she sounded enthusiastic, smiling for real this time. “I hope one day I can take you there and give you a tour. If… you want, of course.”

“Is no one mad that you people appropriated the place?” Yoongi asked.

“Yeah, he is right noona. What if someone comes to the bunker and found you guys there? Wouldn’t you be in trouble?” Taehyung agreed.

“Well, you see. The same day we learned about The Men of Letters we met Abaddon. She was one of the last Knights of Hell and… ok… don’t look at me that way, I don’t make the rules here, ok? I'm a little unsure about how exactly the hierarchy in Hell works. I just know that Knights of Hell were humans handpicked by Lucifer himself and turned into demons by Cain so that means: freakishly old and powerful demons,” she huffed looking at the disbelieving faces of the boys. 

“Cain?” Yoongi tried. “As in, the Bible Cain? Abel and Cain, Cain?”

“Yeah. That Cain,” she stated and proceeded. “Abaddon had single handedly killed almost every Men of Letters in the US and the very few survivors simply disappeared into the night. So, no, I don’t think anyone is going to bother us there. Besides, the bunker had been abandoned for over fifty years when we found it, dusty and all.”

“How is it that no one found it in that time?” Jin wondered.

“Well, firstly, it needs a very special key to be opened that was lost for almost sixty years. Secondly, it is heavily warded against almost any kind of monster. It is an impenetrable fortress for them unless they are specifically invited in and some of the wardings are taken down. 

“From what I know and I can gather, this place was never really supposed to be empty unless it was a very special occasion. In 1958, there was going to be an initiation ceremony and for that, all the high ranks of the organization had to attend. The bunker was closed and the key was taken with them. It was during that night that Abaddon attacked and the key was lost. We, sort of, found it about a year ago. I'm happy about it. Kind of feel as if the guys finally have a steady roof on top of their heads instead of moving from motel to motel,” she smiled endearingly. “So, we were unable to kill Abaddon but we found a temporary solution while Sam undertook the trials. 

“At first glance, three tests don’t sound like too much. Feels, sort of, doable. But when we heard the kind of stuff that needed to be done, well, let me tell you, it was nothing short of herculean. Initially, Dean said he would be doing the trials but Sam beat him to the first job and he had to keep going if they wanted to succeed. 

“I can see it in your faces, you want but at the same time don’t want to know what was asked of us in order to close the Gates, right?” she paused as all the heads nodded, some more vehemently than others. “Ok. First, bathe in the blood of a hellhound. Second, save a soul from Hell and deliver it to Heaven. Third, cure a demon. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right? And if I remember correctly, they went looking for a hellhound more or less in February 2013. I recall because it was around Namjoon and Jungkook’s graduations,” she looked at said members. 

“Oh! Is that why you were so distracted noona?” Jungkook pointed out.

“Was I that obvious? Sorry if I worried you,” she apologized, face palming herself. 

“Well, now I understand what you meant when you told me that your family had gone looking for a big dog,” Hobi added. “I’m guessing they made it through the first trial.”

“Yeah, and the second as well. I was very worried about them but your debut was coming up and… there was so much in my mind. To top it all, did I mention that we found Metatron? Well, the thing is Cas sort of, broke the demon tablet and, as hard as he tried, Kevin was unable to decipher the last trial. It was almost by chance that we found the angel and he told us what we had to do. 

“I hated him. Still do. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him,” the anger was back in her voice and her knuckles were almost white. “You see, the angel tablet contained a similar spell in it. Metatron convinced Cas to help him get the three ingredients to close the Gates of Heaven. He told Cas that this was in humanity’s best interest, with the gates closed, the angels would not be able to come to Earth ever again to terrorize humans. Plus, it would give them time to work things out and, finally, steady Heaven’s situation. 

“Metatron manipulated Cas reminding him of all the bad stuff he had caused in the past. This way the scribe ensured Cas’ help. They needed the heart of a Nephilim, the bow of a Cupid and the grace of an angel. Metatron was more brains than muscle so that’s why he needed Cas.”

As the memory came back to her, she decided it best to stop for a second and calm down. Yet, she wasn’t counting on the guys to take their chance to ask some more questions. 

“What’s a Nephilim?” Jungkook asked.

“A Nephilim is the child of an angel and a human. It is said that its power could be greater than that of the angel that sired it. They are extremely rare due to several circumstances. Mostly because they are hunted down from the moment of their conception but also because there aren’t that many angels who wish to intimate that much with humanity,” she explained. 

“Why are they hunted down?” Jungkook pressed on. 

“Because angels consider them abominations, monstrosities too powerful for their own good and potential threats to their status. A Nephilim is said to possess both a human soul and an angel’s grace and just to give you an idea, a single human soul can be as powerful as three times our solar system’s sun. Imagine then a being that has access to that AND an angel’s grace. For that, and simply for the fact that someone told them they were forbidden beings, Nephilim are killed at a very early age, before they can even reach out their full potential,” there was a sadness to her words a bit hard to place for the boys. 

“If they are rare, how did Metatron knew there would be one alive last year to use for the spell?” Taehyung asked. 

“Mmm… how should I put this? Angels have a… sort of, frequency of their own with which they can communicate without interference. Cas calls it angel radio. I guess it’s like an innate telepathic ability they have. Apparently, when a Nephilim is conceived, there is this sort of alert that rings all through the angel radio so everyone is aware of the event. Think of it as a social media notification. As soon as the news are out, the hunt begins but I guess with everything going on in the last years, angels were more focused in many different things and forgot about the Nephilim that was hiding among humanity,” she shrugged a little. “I would have liked to meet her.”

“What do Nephilim look like?” Taehyung inquired again.

“Their physical body is that of a human and it doesn’t really stand out from an average person I guess. It follows the principle of basic biology. It will take traits of the human parent and traits of the human vessel used by the angel at the time of procreation. As for their ethereal form… well, I've heard that they are almost a copy of their angel parent but that is something only other angels and demons would be able to see I guess,” she kept on explaining. 

“And, did you guys succeed in the three trials?” Jungkook asked.

“Sam was about to but there was a side effect that the tablets had failed to mention. That, along with the difficulty of the tasks, the person undertaking them would slowly but surely lose their life force and by the time of the last trial, he or she would die in order to have the gates shut. As soon as Dean found out, he rushed to stop his little brother I… I was unable to help them… again,” she sounded a bit defeated. 

“Was it because of us?” Taehyung asked sadly. 

“It was my choice. I had the chance of choosing and I chose to stay here, only long enough to make sure you were safe. Also, do you remember that Mr. Man from the editing department had to be urgently hospitalized? Well, they were short handed and I was asked to help the department finish your debut trailer. I'm very proud of the team’s work,” she stated. “Yet, at the same time the Winchesters were stopping Hell’s trials, Metatron and Cas were finishing the other spell but that coward lied. That spell would not keep the angles in. Remember the global meteor shower a couple of weeks before your debut? The one you said it felt as a good omen for you?”

“They weren’t meteors, were they?” Namjoon ventured.

Myriam shook her head.

“That day, every angel in Heaven was casted out of their home and they all lost their wings during the fall. All except the one that casted the spell. Are you beginning to see why I hate Metatron so much? The angels were scattered, scared, angry and desperate. Some found suitable vessels, some weren’t as lucky but tried non-stop to find a good one. Others simply let go and died. I remember having to put an emergency warding on the company’s building and your dorm that day. It wasn’t perfect but it kept the angels from trying to possess you. I’m not sure whether or not your bodies would be able to hold them or not but I certainly didn't want to find out that day. 

“Once I determined you were safe, I went to New York as fast as I could to help Sam and Dean. Cas was nowhere to be found and Sam was in such a bad shape that we didn’t know what to do. The trials had damaged him deeply, it went all the way to a molecular level. In other words, he was dying. Dean was desperate so he recurred to extreme measures. He prayed to every angel that would listen. He told them where we were and asked for their help. Of course, things never really go our way.

“I stayed behind in the room, watching over Sam and trying to fix him while Dean went down to the Impala where Crowley had been hostage for some time, apparently. If angels weren’t gonna help, the King of Hell would have to do.”

“But noona! How did Crowley ended up in the Impala? Wasn’t it weird for other people to see him tied up in the car?” Jungkook asked.

“Not really, no, because Dean had put him in the trunk. Long story short, when he heard about us doing the tasks, he called into Hell all the demons on Earth so that no one would help us behind his back and we would be unable to complete the trials. Furthermore, he began killing off people that Sam and Dean had saved through the years and before ending Jody’s life we reached an agreement.

“Oh, by the way, Jody Mills is the sheriff at Sioux Falls. When I first met her she was like Henriksen, believing that we were evil and totally demented. Then she had a supernatural encounter of her own, with which we helped her out. After that she even began covering for us, helping us evade the cops and going as far as giving us suggestions on cases that came through her system that could potentially be more our department. She is a great friend. 

“Anyhow, we couldn’t let anything happen to her so we made a deal with Crowley: he would stop hurting all these people and would give us the angel tablet in exchange for Sam letting go of the idea of closing the gates of Hell and us surrendering the demon tablet. Of course he had a whole contract beautifully written out for Sammy but, since he didn’t know what the third task consisted of, it gave us a chance to capture him and cure him. Or, at least, attempt to. Like I said, Dean stopped Sam just in the nick of time. Aaaand that’s how he ended up in the trunk of the Impala,” she smiled a bit.

“I-I see,” the youngest replied. 

“Now, this will be the last part of my story. It pretty much covers the events of last year’s second half until now. After that, well, it will be up to you to decide what will happen,” she took a deep breath again. “Crowley’s help wasn’t necessary because there were quite a few angels that arrived to the hospital. None to help, save one. Dean introduced him to me as Ezekiel. I greeted the angel and we began trying to heal Sam again. Ezekiel voiced out my thoughts, the damage was way too deep. He also told Dean and I that all the fallen angels were too weak and this same weakness didn’t allow him to function properly. He was telling the truth. 

“Dean went out of the room for a moment when he got a call and I began asking question to Ezekiel. What was Heaven like? What had happened to the angels? What his intentions were? He said he just wanted to help, I believed him. It was around this time that the earth shook, there was an angel trying to secure a vessel in the building. Dean came back in and told us to keep on going while he drew some sigils to keep the newcomers out of the room. 

“Ezekiel was fine for a brief time but it was obvious that his strength was faltering. The sigils only worsen his condition so Dean had to cancel some after he had dealt with the threat outside the room. Finally, the new one offered a long-term solution: allow him to possess Sammy so they both healed each other. He promised that once both of them were healed, he would leave Sam’s body of his own free will. We refused but we were losing Sam. I didn’t want to say goodbye yet but I didn’t want him possessed. I argued with Dean briefly but couldn’t stay for what he had decided. 

“After a few minutes, Sam walked out of the room, changed into his clothes and all, and being possessed by Ezekiel. This possession lasted for quite a few months during which, I must admit, his help was actually welcomed. Nevertheless, there were two main problems with this plan. 

“The first, Ezekiel had asked us not to tell Sam about him carrying an angel inside his body. He told us that, weak as he was at the moment, and as a general rule, the human could expel the angel any time they wanted. He figured Sam wouldn’t like the idea of being possessed, let alone having been tricked into saying ‘yes’ to an angel. Therefore, there was the pending threat of Ezekiel being ejected and Sam dying because his angelical pacemaker would be reaped out. We didn’t like it but he had a point. 

“Secondly, when Cas finally got in touch with us, he told us that Metatron had stolen his grace to finish the spell and now he was human. We waited for him to come back to the bunker but Ezekiel pretty much told us that it was either Cas or him. He argued that Cas would probably not understand what was going on plus every angel was out for his head. That would make us an even bigger target and, the more he had to keep using his powers, the longer he would have to stay in Sam. I sensed there was something else to his ultimatum than those mere words. 

“I think that has been the worst fight I have ever had with Dean in all the time we knew each other. Of course he would prioritize Sam over Cas but… I never expected… I asked un-Cas to come to Korea with me. I could probably help him get a job and a place to live. I even told him we could live together until he could stand on his own two feet but he refused. If he was endangering Sam and Dean, it was only obvious that he would be endangering me and you by proximity.

“I hope I never have to go through that again. It was the reason I stopped contact with the brothers for a while. It hurt me to think that my family was crumbling to pieces. I wanted… I wished I could take us back to the time before angels and Horsemen and everything that had to do with Apocalypse,” Myriam bit her lower lip. “The only one I stayed in contact with was Cas. Since he knew little of how human society works, I wanted to help him as much as I could from afar. I was proud to hear he had found a job on his own so I got him a place to live in. Nothing fancy really but he accepted it because it was close to his work place so he didn’t have to spend money on transportation. 

“Eventually, he told me he had seen Dean and they had worked things out. He insisted I did the same ‘cause he was hell bent into becoming a true hunter and could use all the help he could get. To be honest, I had been meaning to talk with Dean for a while but I just had been so busy. Between you boys and Abaddon’s issue, well, had my hands full,” she paused.

“Wait a sec. Wasn’t Abaddon the Knight of Hell you had already killed?” Namjoon questioned. 

“Well, no, we did take care of her though. No weapon the Winchesters possessed at the time could kill her, so they imprisoned her instead but, remember the trials? Well, remember I told you Crowley had called in all the demons of Earth back to Hell since he didn’t want anyone betraying him and conspiring against him with the brothers? Turns out Abaddon was initially the only demon available at the time. We were going to cure her but we were careless and she escaped.

“She intended to take the crown away form Crowley. Said something along the lines: ‘that glorified salesman doesn’t deserve it’. I was worried about what she could do if left unchecked so I tried tracking her down. It was hard but I got some clues and information. Anyways, Crowley was one of the most interested parties into getting rid of her so he conducted his own investigation after we released him.

“By mid summer I was in full contact with Dean again and we learned a painful, yet not completely unexpected, truth. Ezekiel lied about who he was and when his secret was revealed, he fled in Sam’s body. His name was Gadreel and he was the unfortunate centurion that was supposed to guard The Garden’s entrance but, as we know, Lucifer sneaked in and corrupted humanity. The poor thing felt God’s wrath and was punished as well as incarcerated in Heaven’s prison. The fall freed him but he was so scared of being treated as a pariah that he was easily manipulated by Metatron. 

“I will not justify the terrible things Gadreel did but I must admit I understand where he stood at that point. To tell you the truth, I would have liked knowing him better but he died a hero. At least in my eyes. You’ll see, while Abaddon and Crowley were going at it for Hell’s top spot, Metatron wanted to become the new God by using Cas as scapegoat for the fall and appointing himself as the only one able to get the angels back home.

“I suppose Metatron has his own issues but I can’t just feel any sympathy for him. I hate him so much,” a few tears of anger escaped her eyes. “The an… well, a faction of the angels kidnapped Cas while he was still very vulnerable. They tortured him for some time but thanks to that, he was able to take something very valuable from one of them,” she made a dramatic pause. 

“What? What did he get noona?” impatience took over the youngest. 

“His grace. The source of the angel’s power. Without it, they either die or become humans. Cas stole one of his captor’s grace and was back in the game. It wasn’t his own but it would do the trick for a while. We had hoped it was enough to help us stop Metatron. Crowley, on the other hand, he helped us find Sam and expel Gadreel from his body in exchange for killing Abaddon. This was no easy task but Dean agreed. Sam was so angry at Dean for having allowed Gadreel to possess him. He was angry with me too for not saying anything. Sam pretty much told Dean to leave him alone and, for a while, Dean honored his wish. It was hard to contact them when I felt my family was falling apart but I tried to keep in touch. 

“Evidently it wasn’t enough because Dean ended up doing something beyond stupid to fulfill his part of the deal. Crowley had tracked down the first Knight: Cain. The older demon explained how he got to be the first of Lucifer’s army and, let me tell you, it’s not like in the Bible. He told Dean that he realized that Abel wasn’t speaking to God but Lucifer. Worried about what could potentially happen to his little brother, he confronted Lucifer and made a deal with him. Cain offered his soul in exchange for keeping Abel’s soul untarnished so the younger one would be sent to Heaven when he died. Lucifer accepted under one condition. Cain was to be the one to end his brother’s life. Cain accepted.”

“HOW COULD HE HAVE DONE THAT?!” Jin burst out. “That’s wrong.” 

“Jin, try to understand. If Cain had allowed Abel to live, chances were that he would have lived a long life but his soul would have been doomed and condemned. Cain accepted the punishment for taking his little brother’s life in order to ensure that Abel’s soul would never suffer. I know it sounds cruel and maybe even selfish but, if I had been in his position, I would have done the same thing,” she lowered her head then sighed and kept going. 

Jin gulped.

“Anyhoo, Cain talked to Dean and Crowley about how he was the one to pretty much kill off his own kind. After centuries of being a demon, he fell in love with a human lady. He didn’t want to be a killer any longer so he tried his best to live on with his wife. That is until Abaddon killed her but, that’s another story. 

“Apparently, the only thing that could kill a Knight of Hell was a special weapon called the First Blade that could only be wielded by a bearer of a mark that only Cain had and could pass on. Dean took on the mark though Cain did warn him that this thing would bring out the killer inside him. He also told them that, in order to keep himself from using the First Blade, he had tossed the thing into the bottom of the ocean so Crowley went out to fetch the awful thing. 

“After some extensive search, Crowley came back with the blade, Dean killed Abaddon, Cas dragged Metatron out of Heaven, broke the angel tablet and then he… that bastard…” the knot was forming in her throat again. “Metatron killed Dean.”

She barely managed to blurt out. She had to take a couple of very deep breaths before continuing.

“Wanna know what the worst part is? Metatron only killed his humanity. The mark will not let the bearer die, not entirely anyways. Crowley knew this and did the thing anyways. Dean has become a Knight of Hell himself. He is a full demon and is on the loose. Crowley took him. Sam and I have been worried sick looking for him for almost five weeks now. We need to bring him back to the bunker and try to cure him. We also need to take that mark off his arm and we also need to find a way to restore Cas’ grace because the one he is using is definitely fading away. And of course, you still have a ton of things to do here in LA and I also need to see into that and… and…” she couldn’t go on. 

“Ok, ok, ok. You need to calm down a little. Breathe,” Hobi stated and proceeded to take deep breaths himself too.

Namjoon rubbed the back of his head trying to take everything in. Truly, this was too much. He could only watch how Jimin rubbed the girl’s arm and Hobi tried to help her recover. Was this really all? What more could this girl be hiding from them?


	8. Chapter 8

At the beginning of the day everything had seemed normal, well, as normal as could be expected from the show producers. American Hustle Life had made a little bit of a pause of filming them that day so the could go record the new songs during the morning and most of the afternoon but they had filmed a segment before they had gone to bed. They were so tired after the long day of work. Tony and the other teachers had already gone upstairs to rest. Hadn’t taken five minutes when they suddenly heard banging on the door. It wasn’t a furious one but certainly an urgent bang. 

Jungkook was instructed to open the door. Even though he was in the upper bunk bed, he was still the closest. With a yawn and heavy eyelids, he got down and opened the door. 

“Noona! You can’t be here, can you?” were the first words that came out of Jungkook’s sleepy voice. 

“I’m sorry for the hour, I had to come. There is something very important I need to do,” she said stepping in and instantly running upstairs. 

The other members were as surprised as the younger member but most of them didn’t even think too much about it and went back to hugging their pillows. None of them noticed when she had gotten back down and, with a stealth proper of felines, she approached them. 

In a single movement she pulled Jin out of the bed. The sudden sound of his dragging and Jin’s terrified scream alerted everyone. Jungkook turned on the lights at the same time he saw Myriam punching Jin so hard he thought it was an instant KO. To his surprise, and everyone else that was watching, Jin stood his ground and even began fighting back. 

“OI, OI, OI!!” Namjoon tried as he got up and tried to separate them. Jungkook followed his example as well as Hobi. Taehyung and Yoongi were chained to their beds unable to move. 

“NOONA! What are you doing?!” Jimin yelled as he tried to help Jungkook contain her. 

They didn’t expect her to be strong enough to force herself out of their grip. She went straight at Jin again. She had eyes for no one but him. Jin, on the other side, tried to run to one of the windows. She caught on to him and pulled him in. He fell hard on his back and was unable to get back up because Myriam was on top of him not a second later. Her punches became more aggressive. Namjoon and Jungkook grabbed her arms to try pulling her up but with one last, perfectly placed, kick and Jin finally passed out.

“NOONA! CALL 911!” Namjoon instructed. “AND WAKE TONY AND THE OTHERS UP!”

“NO!” Myriam screamed as she once again forced herself out of the young men’s grip and slapped Hobi’s phone out of his hand. “Open the door! Please, just open it!”

The urgency was now present in her voice. Her eyes were pleading. It was as if the girl that had knocked out Jin and this young woman were two completely different people. Jimin stopped midway up the staircase to look back. They didn’t know what to do.

“Trust me. Open the door, please,” she begged one more time.

Yoongi finally got up and opened the door. 

Everyone’s jaw dropped and their heart skipped a beat. They were speechless. How to give credit for what they were seeing? It was impossible, wasn’t it? Could it be another hidden camera trick? What other explanation could there be for the lack of action of their teachers with all the commotion down stairs if it weren’t an act?

Jimin got all the way down and slowly grabbed the back of his head with both hands. Taehyung covered his mouth and bounced his eyes from the threshold to Myriam nonstop. Yoongi was unable to move from the entrance. The other three were in no better condition. How was this possible?

“What is this?” Namjoon finally spoke up. 

“I’m sorry for the violence. I was afraid this would try to escape before we had a chat,” Myriam answered while kicking softly the body on the floor. 

“Well, will you let me in already?” the annoyed voice from the entrance told Yoongi.

Yoongi moved aside letting in a person identical to Jin or rather, the real Jin. 

“I can’t believe you. You really thought that impostor was me? Can’t you tell the difference? I thought so highly of all of you,” his typical annoyed voice could be heard. 

Everyone was speechless. It was true that during this particular day Jin hadn’t been that talkative but he still participated in every activity. Probably the strangest thing was seeing him wear dark shades inside the recording room but, knowing Jin, it could have easily been one of his eccentricities. 

Jungkook had definitely sensed something was off the moment he had burnt his dinner. He never really did that. Hobi had also thought it strange that he left a mess after eating, that would usually be Yoongi, not Jin. All in all, Jin was right, they should have said something earlier. 

Jin kept scolding the guys while Myriam got a chair and tied up fake-Jin. 

“But, how did this happen?” Hobi finally interrupted the eldest. 

“I don’t know, one moment I was here in the room and the next I wake up in a basement. I was tied up, alone and no matter how loud I screamed no one came,” his voice was a tiny bit quieter. “I was worried I would die down there, you know? And suddenly, out of nowhere, Myriam appeared and got me out.”

“So, who’s that?” Hobi pointed at the prisoner.

“I’m just surprised they haven’t come down after all the noise we’ve made” Jimin commented as he waved his thumb in the upper bedrooms’ direction.

“Oh, that was my doing. I made sure they didn’t interrupt us. They are fine, just deeply asleep,” Myriam answered not taking her eyes off fake-Jin. “As for this. It’s not a who but a what. Thanks to the picture you sent me earlier I was able to figure out what had happened to Jin.”

“What are you talking about? And shouldn’t you be in Korea right now?” Yoongi finally spoke up.

“I came to US right after you left boys. There is a lot I need to take care of here,” she tried to brush off.

“Oi! I got kidnapped, you appeared out of the blue, I suddenly have a twin who you have clearly used as a punch bag. I think you should do a little better than that,” Jin kept complaining. 

Myriam finally looked up at them, one by one and right in the eye. Then invited them to sit on the couches. 

“I guess you have a right to know. I mean, it’s not every day that you encounter the supernatural this closely. Don’t look at me that way, I promise I’ll explain it as best as I can but I need you to promise me something: you will save your questions till the end and you will allow me to finish the story, deal?”

Almost two hours later she was finally done and though they had only endorsed half of their promise there was still so much the didn’t know. 

“Um… noona. May ask then, what is this?” Hobi pointed at the still KO’d Jin in an attempt of distracting Myriam.

She looked up. 

“Oh, I-I almost forgot. I’m quite certain that is a shapeshifter. If the picture you sent me is accurate I'm 99% certain.”

“Should we wake him up?” Jungkook asked. 

“Not yet,” she answered. 

“How will you know?” he kept inquiring. 

“There are two tests I will have to run. Don’t make that face, they are simpler than you think,” she dared a small smile while looking at Jungkook’s sparkling eyes.

“Why keep us in the dark?” Namjoon asked.

“To keep you as safe as I could. Also, I saw no point into scaring you with all this ‘monsters are real’ deal,” Myriam replied.

“How did you find me?” Jin asked.

“I heard your p-summoning,” she corrected herself.

“Summoning?!” Jin sounded a bit altered. “I don’t know any spells!”

“Um… well… you sort of do… all of you actually,” she countered a bit hesitantly.

They all looked at her with very wide eyes. 

“Remember the little stamp I gave each of you way before your debut? The one with the Turkish poem on the other side?”

“Are you trying to tell us that is a summoning spell?” Jimin tried to sound casual about that.

“Well, there is a reason I insisted you learned that. I hoped you wouldn’t need it but well, here we are. Took longer than I expected and I'm glad about that,” Myriam shrugged. 

“But… I didn’t… I didn’t learn the whole thing. At that moment I could only remember the first half,” Jin admitted. “Mer yembeni dinle. Was all I could think of. The only thing that came to my mind after I…”

“I know but it was enough. I heard you,” she smiled.

“How did it go again?” Hobi asked trying to remember the whole thing. 

“Mer yembeni dinle. Yardıma ihtiyacım var,” she chanted easily. 

Everyone tried to repeat after her but the second part was quite complicated. She said it again, slower and accentuating each syllable so it would help them out. This really made her smile. 

“You’ll get there. You just need to practice and you also know now that it actually works as a charm,” she assured.

“Wow, to think I could have been doing magic all along,” Jimin joked. “Which reminds me, what kind of spell did you use on our teachers?”

“That’s an easy one. I just used silencing sigils on their doors. They were tired on their own so their sleep hasn’t been disturbed,” Myriam commented.

“Sigils?” Jungkook asked.

“Yeah. There are many kinds of magic and ways of performing it. Sigils, potions, spells, those are the main tools. Though it’s not like in Harry Potter where they use wands and flying brooms. It’s something in between The Craft and BBC’s Merlin sort of vibe.”

They didn’t get the two last references but Jungkook and Taehyung had already stored the titles to look them up later. It was interesting to have a real witch among their staff but it was also a bit scary. 

“Why haven’t we encountered any supernatural thing until now?” Yoongi made the million-dollar question. 

“Well, in part I think it’s because I've warded your dorm’s building and the practice rooms against every threat I could possibly think of, not only against angels. As I kept learning about new monsters, I also learned how to do better warding so you can say I keep those updated. 

“Also, as I've told you before, hunting is not new to me. I've been doing it for centuries so I know how to establish a perimeter around my territory. The problem is that now that you travel so much it’s a bit harder to keep up but I do my best. It’s a good thing I can see most of your schedules beforehand so by the time you arrive, everything is ready. This particular time though, the problem was I didn’t know your schedule, at least not the real one, and that shapeshifter was already here,” she articulated. 

“Here?” Hobi asked hesitantly.

“If the basement’s condition is to be considered any indication, I think this shapeshifter has been living here for quite a while and I think it might just be time to wake it up to get some answers from it,” Myriam said suddenly changing her tone to a much more serious one. 

From her duffel bag (where she had extracted the ropes and handcuffs) she took out a spoon. Nothing particularly special about it. Just to make sure, she handed it to Jin.

“You feel anything funny?” she asked. 

“No,” he scowled and pouted while inspecting the thing. “Should I?”

Myriam took back the spoon and touched one of the shifter’s cheeks with it. The thing woke up instantly screaming in pain while the skin that had made contact with the spoon was scorched. The boys winced at the sudden reaction, Myriam didn’t move an inch. Next thing she took out her phone and snapped a quick picture at the monster. Jungkook and Jimin stepped forward to look at it. The photo was perfectly normal except for one thing. They were very surprised to see that the only thing visible of the eyes was the pupil, for the iris was as white as the sclera. 

“Yup, shapeshifter alright,” she said as if determining someone’s temperature. 

“How can you be so sure?” Jungkook asked amazed. 

“Well, there are a lot of monsters that are vulnerable to silver but a picture, a mirror or a video can capture their real identity. With these two tests I can determine that this, in front of us, is, indeed, a shifter,” she answered never taking her eyes off said specimen. “Now, I need you to tell me…”

“Fuck off!” was the first thing the monster said. 

“Oh, so that’s why this Jin was so silent. The shifter doesn’t know Korean. You might want to sit down while I wrap this up,” Myriam told the guys, lifted an eyebrow and changed languages. “I do apologize but I won’t be able to do as you say. I need answers and I’ll use any means necessary to get those answers from you.”

The way she spoke, so cold and distant was nothing the boys had ever seen or heard before. More than one felt a chill run down their spine. 

_\--English--_

“You... hunters. Think that every non-human thing is evil. I didn’t do anything wrong. I just… I wanted a day out. I didn’t even hurt that one. I was going to bring him back tonight,” the shifter said in spite but there was an edge of terror in its voice. 

“I appreciate that much but that doesn’t make up for the fact that you targeted my friends,” she kept going in the same chilly tone. 

A nervous laugh escaped the shifter. 

“Your friends? You even know who they are? They are BTS. How does a meager hunter knows them in the first place?”

“Well, I guess you are a fan but how we met is none of your business. I will ask some questions and I will need a yes or a no as an answer. Am I clear?”

“As if. Why would I?”

“I see you like celebrities. I wonder if regular human celebrities are the only ones you are aware of,” her voice was calm and extremely controlled, her face betrayed nothing.

“Tch, as if there were any celebrities among you people,” the shifter deviated its look at something on the floor, behind Myriam.

“Ever heard of the Winchesters?”

The shifter’s eyes grew in terror and shot back at the girl in front. Its lower lip quivered. 

“Th-the W-Winchesters?”

Its was obvious it knew them or, at the very least had heard the name. 

“Wh-why? The owe you money or s-something?” it tried to sound cool and nonchalant but its stammer betrayed it. 

“No. I'm their little helper,” she stated matter of fact with her arms crossed over her chest.

“No, no, no, no, no,” the shifter smiled nervously. “That is a myth. We all know that the Winchesters have an angel pet but the helper is… is… not real. No one has seen him.”

“Correction: no one that crosses _her_ survives. I like my anonymity. The least that is known about me the better,” Myriam corrected. 

The boys behind her could only see the face of the shifter lose its color and contort in terror as Myriam’s words poured out of her mouth ever so calm. It was hard to imagine that this same girl had had an emotional breakdown a couple of minutes before. And what was that part of “no one survived her”. It was amazing but only with a few lines, they could feel their own knees trembling. 

“I will say this one more time. I ask the questions, you answer yes with a nod or no with a shake, are we clear?”

This time the shifter nodded vehemently. 

“Is this the first time you do this kind of thing?”

Shake.

“Have you ever killed anyone?”

The shifter was silent but very slowly began nodding. 

“Was it on purpose?”

This took the shifter aback. Not a single soul had ever asked that. It shook its head.

“Was it on self defense?”

It looked at her and nodded as its eyes began to tear up. 

“Has it happened again?”

Shake. 

“Is that basement your home?”

Nod. 

“Would you like to stay alive?”

It nodded fiercely while its tears began rolling down its cheeks. 

Myriam’s heart sunk a bit but she had to remind herself that this was not Jin in front of her but a shapeshifter. Based on what it said, it wasn’t an evil one just a very avid fan that liked hanging out with celebrities. LA was definitely the place to be in order to do that. From the moment she had seen the hazy picture Hobi sent her, she had already laid out a plan but the shifter’s compliance was just the cherry on the top.

“I’ll need you to become me for a few days,” she answered plainly. 

“Wait what?!” Namjoon surprised them both. 

_\--Korean--_

“Guys, I adore you but I need time. I need to find Dean. I need to help Sam cure him. I can’t fail him again. I promise it will not be for long. I just need… I just need some time,” she told them, almost begged them.

“But he kidnapped me!” Jin countered. 

“The shifter knows that it has done wrong and is willing to do as I say in exchange of its life. This is all I can do to keep working with you and still save my family. Please. Let me do this. I can assure you that it will all be fine. I would never leave this around if I didn’t know you would be perfectly safe,” she pleaded signaling the shifter with her head. 

They were silent for a moment. After nearly a minute, they all nodded slowly their approval. 

_\--English--_

“Ok. So, first thing is first. Let’s go to the bathroom to get you changed. Promise you will be good?” she said to the shifter.

The shifter was only able to nod. 

Carefully, Myriam untied the shifter and took off the handcuffs. She had made certain those weren’t silver just in case. The shifter rubbed its wrists at the same time Myriam guided them to the bathroom. 

_\--Korean--_

“You should go to sleep now. This might take a while,” she suggested before closing the door behind her. 

A bit doubtful, they all went to their beds but none of them could sleep, not too deeply anyways. They waited for little over an hour before the light under the door turned off and out came two Myriams. Both of them looked identical and so different at the same time. One, wearing black trousers with pretty flats, a simple blouse and her hair up in a bun yet, even a blind man would be able to notice the pure terror in those eyes. The other was wearing a pair of jeans, timberland-type of boots, a black tank top, an unbuttoned, green, plaid shirt over it and a single French braid. Her face was so serious, hard even, nothing like the happy little thing they knew and were used to. 

“I’ll take the shifter to a hotel, sleep tight. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said before closing the door behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day was bit hard for the boys to focus. The lack of sleep was already bad but with all the new information in their minds, it was hard to concentrate. Things didn’t get any better when they came across Myriam, or rather, shifter-Myriam two days later.  
  
They had been filming most of the morning with American Hustle Life and now they were arriving at the recording studio. Not-Myriam was the one to receive them in the entrance. Jin evaded the entity all together along with Hobi. To know that monsters were real was bad enough but the eldest had been actually abducted by one and Hobi had had enough watching Myriam beat the crap out of whom he believed was Jin. It was hard so they decided to take their distance for the time being.  
  
Yoongi and Jimin were at the rear and seemed to be minding their own business. Jungkook, on the other hand, grew curious.  
  
“Morning,” he tried in his best English.  
  
“Oh! Um… hi,” the shifter answered nervously.  
  
“You ok?” he kept going showing the shifter a double-thumbs up.  
  
“Y-yeah. I'm good. Y-you can speak Korean though. I-it’s ok,” it answered.  
  
Namjoon caught on to that.  
  
“Really? Didn’t you not know our language?” he pointed out still in English.  
  
“Oh, she fixed that,” the shifter said as it held one arm out.  
  
Taehyung, Namjoon and Jungkook looked at the beads bracelet this person had. All the beads were white except for one which was a bright green color. It was evident that Myriam had a thing for this type of accessories. They smiled a bit.  
  
“How does it work?” Tae asked intrigued without realizing he was speaking in Korean.  
  
“She told me that she had been working on these type of beads for a while. Miss Winchester was aiming for a real time translator but had only managed to create the prototype for a few languages so far. She only gave me two though,” the shifter placed its finger over the white bead to the right of the green one.  
  
After three seconds, there was only one white bead, the green one and the rest looked like little pebbles. The boys looked in wonder when the shifter touched the white bead one more time and the pebbles colored white again.  
  
“White’s for Korean, green’s for Spanish. That’s what she said. She also left me her phone but told me that she had redirected all the calls to her second phone. Apparently, this thing only works when you are in close proximity. Said something about a five meter-range. Little Miss Winchester doesn’t know how to use feet. I’ll look it up later,” the shifter continued.  
  
It was clear the supposed monster was relaxing.  
  
“Um… excuse me,” Jungkook’s small voice picked up everyone’s attention. “Do you have a name of your own? Or how should we refer to you?”  
  
“How do you usually refer to me? I'm sorry, um… well you know what I mean,” it answered.  
  
“Normally we would call her ‘Noona’ but…” Tae started saying.  
  
“I get it. It would be weird to call me that. How about… Miss Winchester?” the shifter blushed like a fangirl. “Oh my God! That sounds so inappropriate and bold but…”  
  
“Why do you keep calling noona Miss Winchester?” Tae asked.  
  
“Well, um… wasn’t she… isn’t she… related to those two?” she whispered to them. “I mean, rumors have it that she is as much their family as they are hers. I'm surprised she hasn’t made the legal change though. It sounds so well and it suits her.”  
  
“Why would it suit her?” Tae kept up with his interrogation.  
  
“Well… you know… she is a hunter and all but the Winchesters… uff… the Winchesters are a whole different level and if she is as close to them as the rumors say, she is potentially the biggest killer of them all. I mean, she even said it herself, no supernatural that has tried to go after her or her family has survived. That is why solid information about her is so… how should I say it?... scarce. If she does what she says she does, then it makes perfect sense why very few know what her gender is, let alone what she looks like.  
  
“Take me for example, I was in shock to learn that the Winchester’s little helper was actually real, not to mention a female but wouldn’t you say she has a rather… mighty presence for such a small girl? To be a Winchester by name would only be right for her, wouldn’t you agree?” the shifter offered its own insight and the boys were a bit lost for words.  
  
“A-are the Winchesters that scary?” Tae inquired after a moment of consideration.  
  
“Scary? They are the supernatural world’s own boogeyman. We tell their tales to the young and new when we want them to behave. ‘Be good. Don’t kill humans. Cover your tracks correctly. You don’t want the Winchesters coming after you, do you?’” it said energetically but then changed to a much softer voice. “To be honest, I thought I was going to die that day. I'm relieved she made another call.”   
  
“Well… how about we call you Miss Seol?” Yoongi said from behind.  
  
None of the other members noticed him approach, let alone realized he was listening. His voice caught them off guard and even made the shifter jump a bit.  
  
“Seol? Why would you call her that?”  
  
“That is the last name she gave us. If it’s alright with you, we can call you that,” Namjoon added agreeing with the idea.  
  
“O-oh. I see. S-sure. Whatever makes you comfortable. Your comfort is my priority,” Miss Seol nodded nervously.  
  
“Priority?” Jungkook asked but they had arrived to their destination and had to leave the conversation on hold.  
  
At night, sleep evaded all seven of them again, even if they were exhausted.  
  
“Jin-hyung,” the timid voice of the youngest could be perfectly heard in the silent room. “Are you awake?”  
  
“Mmm,” was the response  
  
“I think I never got to ask you, are you ok?”  
  
“Oh, that’s right. I'm sorry I didn’t ask either hyung,” Jimin’s suddenly worried voice joined.  
  
“Really? Two days is what it took for you to ask?” Jin answered a bit annoyed. “I’m fine, by the way.”  
  
“For real? You haven’t even spoken with Miss Seol ever since noona left,” the youngest pointed out.  
  
“So what, hmph? It’s not like I have a lot to talk with her anyways,” Jin answered.  
  
“Well, perhaps she wants to apologize. She doesn’t seem that bad, you know?” Jimin added.  
  
“Apologize? She can apologize whenever she wants but I just don’t feel comfortable around her. That’s all.”  
  
“Why?” Tae inserted himself in the talk.  
  
“Because she kidnapped me?! Do I need any more reasons?” Jin answered frustrated.  
  
“Well, you have a point but I was talking to her today and… I can barely believe what she said about noona. I mean, it’s like a totally different person. Can you imagine her killing anything? I remember last time we saw her back in Korea, she didn’t even let me kill the bee that was attacking Jin-hyung,” Jungkook shot back.  
  
“Oi, Jungkook-ah, stop saying those things. I would hate to think of her in that way. Why would you make her seem so scary?” Hobi retorted.  
  
“But you saw how she KO’d the shifter, I mean, that way of moving was wild,” Jungkook kept saying. “I wouldn’t have imagined she was that strong. She even overpowered Jimin-hyung, Namjoon-hyung and me. Twice!”  
  
“I don’t think it was wild,” Yoongi countered in his ever calm voice. “I think the way she moved looked more… experienced. Like she had been doing this for a long time. Then again, she did tell us she was part of the army of the Golden Horde. Had anyone heard of that before?”  
  
“I looked it up,” said the leader. “The Golden Horde used to be one of the factions in which Genghis Khan’s empire was divided when his grandchildren took over but during the first half of the 1400’s everything changed. That specific part of history is a bit messy so I’m not even sure who she served or along which faction she identified with. I think it would be interesting to ask her about that too.”  
  
“And she is a witch! Imagine all the cool stuff she could teach us. We could be a second type,” Jimin added excitedly.  
  
“HA! Says the guy that can’t even make kimchi,” Jin snapped. “You wouldn’t even be able to make one potion to save your life.”  
  
“Don’t be like that hyung. I can learn,” Jimin mumbled.  
  
“And…” Tae’s hushed voice made everyone listen more intently, “what do you think about the Winchesters?”  
  
“Hard to say. We don’t really know them and what Myriam says vs Miss Seol’s words… I don’t really know what to think,” Namjoon was the first to answer.  
  
“I agree,” Jungkook said.  
  
“I think the same. I mean, to be called the supernatural’s boogeymen can’t be just a small thing. But then again, Myriam talks so highly of them. She calls them family. Even Miss Seol agrees that she should be a Winchester,” Tae elaborated.  
  
“I wonder how many hunts she has had in her life. Do you think she counts them? Where do you think she found all those pirate treasures? Where do you think is the bunker? Do you think she’ll actually take us there if we ask her to? Do you think there are Men of Letters in Korea? Jeez, there are just so many questions,” Jungkook kept asking out loud.  
  
“Oi, Jungkook-ah, how can you be excited about this whole thing?” Jin questioned.  
  
“I don’t know. It just sounds so...” the youngest was out of words.  
  
“Impossibly at hand?” Namjoon tried.  
  
“Yeah, something like that,” Jungkook conceded.  
  
“What kind of man do you think her husband was?” Tae wondered.  
  
There was silence for a long time. Apparently, that had been one of the details most of the members had forgotten considering the weight Myriam had put into the rest of the story.  
  
“I didn’t know she was a widow,” Hobi lamented. “She never even told me.”  
  
“I don’t think she told anyone,” Jin said a bit melancholic.  
  
“I remember in the beginning I thought she was married because of the ring she wears. I once asked her about it but she said she bought it herself because she liked it. I let it go,” Jimin confessed.  
  
“Perhaps when she got married rings weren’t a thing,” Namjoon reasoned.  
  
“Her husband was Korean, right? I wonder if there is any information about him and his family somewhere?” Jin added. “How long do you think they were married? Do you think she got any kids? How long do you think she has been a widow?”  
  
Some of them laughed lightly at Jin’s sudden interest.  
  
“And how about the fact that the Winchesters have died and come back to life more than once. I can’t imagine how much that must hurt,” Tae continued. “I mean, losing someone is already hard enough and you know it just can’t get any worse because that person is gone but with them… even that seems uncertain.”  
  
“Yeah. They must be really important to her if she broke like that while telling us. I guess that is also why she kept so quiet about it at work too. She was always smiling and helping as much as she could. I always thought she was a bit workaholic like us but knowing this, I guess it makes sense why she didn’t want to go home in the first place,” Hobi added.  
  
“Yeah, but, boy can she be scary,” Jin said. “I had chills only by listening her talk with that monster. I can’t imagine what the shifter must have felt.”  
  
“Oh, Miss Seol did mention that this afternoon. She even said she thought she was going to die that day,” Jungkook recalled.  
  
“Yaa! Stop that. Myriam is not killing anyone,” Jin scolded Jungkook.  
  
“Not that we know of,” Yoongi completed the youngest’s idea.  
  
“Hyung,” Hobi said serious all of a sudden. “Don’t help.”  
  
“Anyways, do you think she will succeed? Do you think she’s coming back?” Jimin wondered.  
  
“Well, so far she has managed to do both jobs. If she could help stop the Apocalypse I think it’s safe to say she will succeed in this,” Namjoon offered.  
  
Everyone else had to agree with the leader. 

With some of their thoughts and questions finally shared, the young boy band tried to sleep once again. The next day would be equally busy and no one was stopping even if they were tired. Most of them fell asleep almost right away and only two lingered for an extra twenty minutes. They debated over calling their witchy friend the next day or not.  
  
Nonetheless, with such a demanding schedule, it was hard to make the call so they had to wait yet another day before contacting her. During this time, just like Jimin thought, Miss Seol apologized with Jin and even though the eldest felt better he was a bit reserved when it came to the shifter. Luckily, they didn’t have to interact too much so it was ok.  
  
On the bright side, Miss Seol updated Bangtan with the latest news. Apparently, Myriam had texted and asked the shifter to share the information. She had caught up with Sam and had received an anonymous tip with a lead. They were drawing close to catching Dean or, how the shifter referred to him, “Deanmon”. They were happy for her and prayed that the pair would be on time to save the older Winchester.  
  
At night, they rounded up after their teachers left for the night to call their friend with Namjoon’s phone.  
  
“Noona!” Jungkook exclaimed as soon as the girl picked up.  
  
“Shh! Jungkook, you will wake them up,” Jimin hushed rapidly.  
  
“Hi boys! Don’t worry about that, if no one has touched the sigils on the doors, the silencing spell is still working,” she greeted them.  
  
“Sigils? What sigils? We cleaned today but there was nothing on the doors,” Jimin asked confused.  
  
“He he. Invisible ink is definitely handy,” she shared. “Please be sure to clean the doors before you leave that place.”  
  
“That sort of thing really works?” Hobi was intrigued.  
  
“Sure does. Of course it depends on the spell. The more complicated, it usually requires a special mix but most of the handy spells and wardings I know can be done with anything at hand. It’s good to hear your voice Hobi. By the way, and just out of curiosity, who else is listening to this conversation.”  
  
“Hey noona!” Namjoon greeted.  
  
“I’M HERE TOO NOONA!” Tae boomed.  
  
“Ya! There is no need to be so loud! We are all here and we can hear you just fine,” Jin scolded. “Hi there, by the way.”  
  
Myriam giggled.  
  
“Hi,” the last member said in a much quieter voice.  
  
“Oh, so the whole gang is on the phone. Do you miss me?” she teased.  
  
“Well… to be honest, Jungkook has been a chat box since you left. I think there are a lot of questions coming your way when you’re back,” Namjoon said with a smile.  
  
“Yeah, we knew if we didn’t call you he would burden us with all his questions,” Jin added pretending to be cranky.  
  
Jungkook blushed a bit.  
  
“So I though. Jeez, and here I was, thinking I would get a good night’s sleep after this.”   
They could hear her smile.   
  
“Has it been that hard?” Hobi asked.  
  
Myriam sighed. In the silence, they were able to hear the hum of an engine.  
  
“It hasn’t been particularly easy but we’ve managed. Like I said, I'm with Sammy now. We got a lead so we’re driving to North Dakota. It’s ok. Nothing we can’t manage,” she elaborated.  
  
“North Dakota?” Jin asked out quietly.  
  
“Is Sam ok?” Jungkook asked.  
  
“Well, the poor thing apparently can’t function properly without a wingman. He even managed to break one of his arms and get himself captured by one of Dean’s new groupies,” she informed in a casual tone. “He’s asleep right now.”  
  
“Oi! Don’t answer the phone while driving then,” Jin scolded.  
  
“Sorry. Force of habit,” she apologized smiling.  
  
“Never seen you doing that though,” Tae tried recalling.  
  
“Never seen me driving Taetae,” she offered.  
  
“Fair point,” Tae concluded.  
  
“Hey, how is the shifter behaving,” Myriam changed the subject.  
  
“Oh! Miss Seol?” Jimin piped up innocently.  
  
“Miss… Seol?”  
  
There was something different, almost dangerous about the way she said the last line. Jimin gulped a bit and tried to keep going casually even though he was suddenly nervous.   
  
“A-ah, uhm… y-yeah. We needed to call her something that wouldn’t be suspicious… right?”  
  
“Calling her ‘noona’ didn’t feel right at all,” Tae complemented.  
  
They heard a sigh on the other side of the line.  
  
“I guess you’re right,” pause. “So? How is she?”  
  
“She’s nice. Very hard working. Always tries to make us feel comfortable. She’s even apologized to Jin-hyung,” Jungkook said animatedly.  
  
“Good. That’s good,” she drifted away in thought. “How is the filming and the recording? Are you eating properly?”  
  
“To be honest, doing both is kind of difficult but we are really working hard,” Yoongi finally spoke up.  
  
“Jin-hyung is the one that cooks for us the most, like always, but Tony and the others feed us occasionally,” Jimin added.  
  
“That’s good to hear too. I can barely wait to listen your new material. I'm also trying to guess your looks for the next comeback. I get very excited just to imagine it. Mr. PD hasn’t shared much of his ideas for the concept and we have been begging for information at the office. Such a stingy man,” she laughed lightly with thrill. “It’ll be a huge success I can feel it.”  
  
She sounded just like the Myriam they knew. For a moment there, they even forgot that their friend wasn’t in Korea harassing PD for more details but instead was driving to North Dakota to save a man she considered family because he had become a demon.  
  
“Hey sunshine,” she suddenly said in English and evidently not to them.  
  
  
_\-- English --_  
  
  
“Hey. How long was I out?” the voice of a man could be heard close to Myriam.  
  
“Not long. Almost two hours,” she elaborated.  
  
“Oh. Want to change now? I can drive for a while,” he sounded tired. “You on the phone?”  
  
Silence.  
  
“Oh. Sorry,” Sam apologized.  
  
Everyone assumed Myriam had nodded to the last question.  
  
  
_\-- Korean --_  
  
  
“Sounds like our time is up,” Namjoon lamented.  
  
“I'm sorry boys. I promise I’ll introduce you all as soon as I can.” 

They could hear her disappointment.  
  
“Call us if you need anything,” Hobi said before realizing that probably nothing they had could help her right now.  
  
“Call us if you find him noona,” Jungkook almost begged.  
  
“I promise,” was her answer. “Now, off to bed. Rest well and take care, ok? You don’t want me worrying about you too, do you?”  
  
She sounded so much like a mom that it ripped a couple of smiles from most of the members.  
  
“No,” they answered in unison.  
  
“Good night,” she bid farewell.  
  
Namjoon ended the call and they obeyed their noona. Everything was going to be just fine.


	10. Chapter 10

It was the end of the week. They had finally wrapped up the show. It had been truly exhausting but very fun as well and, except for both kidnappings (the real one and the fake one), they would definitely do it all again. They were leaving very soon and they had hoped she would be back before that. Miss Seol was still with them and there was seldom news of Myriam except for having found Dean. Whereas Sam and her had been able to heal him or not it wasn’t still clear. 

The drive to the airport had been very quiet though the managers had tried to spark conversation with them several times. After a while they stopped and attributed the guy’s apathy to exhaustion. It had indeed been hard for all of them. 

Checking in the luggage was really quick so the proceeded to sit at the wait room before finally flying home. It wasn’t until they had sat down a bit isolated from the other crew members that they began chatting about the issue in low voices. 

“Do you think she is coming?” Hobi wondered.

“Do you think that they actually succeeded?” Jimin seconded. 

“I wonder how is Dean doing after that experience,” Jungkook offered.

“Well, the man has been to Hell and back so I think he should be doing not as bad,” Namjoon tried to sooth. 

“He is fine for now,” a feminine voice came out of nowhere and made several of the members jump. 

“NOONA!” Tae exclaimed and went to hug her very tightly. 

“It’s good to see you made it in one piece,” she joked. 

“Shouldn’t we be the ones saying that?” Namjoon teased in return. 

Everyone smiled, however the boys could notice some strain on Myriam’s face. 

“So…” Jungkook urged a bit. 

“Well, we found him, took him home and treated him. To be honest, he received his last dose of antidote a few hours ago but the response was pretty good. Of course he still has to be monitored but…” she drifted a bit.

“Shouldn’t you still be with them?” Hobi sounded half annoyed, half concerned. 

“Heh. I asked them if I should stay but they told me they could manage and would keep me updated. If my intervention became ‘ultimately’ necessary, they would call me. So… I'm still unsure of what ‘ultimately’ means to them but for now they are benching me from the family business. Sam insisted I went back to Korea and… uhm, Cas begged me to keep on doing my thing for the time being. I know they just want to see me happy and out of the life but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to cut out this part of me,” she sighed. “Anyways, for now, I'm simply glad to be back with you boys.”

“So is Dean…is he going to…” the youngest seemed a bit unsure as to how to ask. “Are they benching him too or is he going back to work?”

“Oh, that. Well, we all agreed that he should take it nice and easy, the job can be very stressful and he doesn’t need that extra pressure on him right now. Still, he objected that it is the only thing that keeps his mind busy so they might go hunting soon. I hope not too soon though. We still have to find a way to remove the mark before we can celebrate anything,” she shared.

“Well, it does sound like they have it under control for now,” Hobi chirped in with a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, we only have to wait for the next thing in your agenda to keep me busy,” she returned the smile. 

“Uhm… noona,” Tae said shyly. “If I may, what happened to Miss Seol?”

“Oh, that, too. I guess you could say I benched her too. I had time to speak with her and we agreed to keep in contact in case of emergencies. I spoke to her briefly but I think I agree with you, she is nice. As of right now, she has a new identity that she seemed to like. I only took care of a few details. I don’t know when you’ll be seeing her again but I hope it’s not too soon,” she responded.

“That’s a relief,” Tae added.

“Pardon?” Myriam was a bit surprised.

“We feared you had… you know,” Jungkook struggled with the words. 

“Oh. I understand. I do have a reputation and an anonymity I want to keep but, contrary to popular belief, I'm not that heartless or stupid. I guess I’ve learned to act tough because I needed to protect myself and those I love the most but I'm not irrational. I've just learned when to bet and when to pull the plug. Having supernatural beings on my side has made a positive difference in more than one occasion for me so… I try to be open about the possibilities,” their friend answered. 

“What do Sam and Dean think about it?” Jin asked.

“Well, they don’t really trust my contacts but I guess they trust my abilities of working with them and know I’ll take care of the situation if anything goes wrong,” she was honest. “It’s also one of the reasons my relationship with them should be as little known as possible but I find that there are more and more rumors about me going around. I'm almost certain that Crowley and the angels are to blame for that but anyways.” 

Myriam clicked her tongue and they kept waiting to board.

“Hey,” Namjoon suddenly piped up. “Can I ask you some questions?”

Myriam narrowed her eyes and asked cautiously: 

“About what?”

“Well, uhm… you see…” he changed seats to be closer to her as he lowered his volume just a little bit more. “I’ve been doing a little bit of reading about the Golden Horde and… well, it sounds a bit messy.” 

He smiled and scratched the back of his head a bit embarrassed.

“Oh that! Yeah, it was really a mess,” she smiled and waited for the questions.

“So, who did you… uhm, serve?” Namjoon asked. 

“Baraq Khan. He is not that well known I suppose. Specially not outside of the middle eastern countries. I met him in 1420 in what today is close to the western border of Mongolia with Kazakhstan. I was in a really bad place emotionally speaking, wasn’t sure of what to do with myself. He found me, dirty and all curled up in ball at the side of the road. 

“My Kahn got down of his horse and called out to me. Since I didn’t respond, he had to get closer. If I remember correctly, he even had to poke me with his sword. He began talking to me but I couldn’t understand all of it. I had never heard his language before. The only thing that helped was that some words were somehow familiar with my mother tongue so I think I grasped the meaning as a whole but had a hard time understanding the details. Sort of when an Italian listen someone speak Spanish, not the same but close enough to give you an idea. 

“Baraq Kahn wanted to know what a pauper like me was doing there in the middle of nowhere all on her own, where were my parents? My husband? My people? Who did I serve? Where did I come from? I was unable to answer much. What I do recall doing was beg him to take me with him, to train me like one of his soldiers and allow me to serve him. In a way, I think I was just trying to find a purpose so I jumped into the first option that crossed my path. 

“He pondered my petition. It was already weird that a girl was alone deep in the mountains, let alone a female that wanted to volunteer to be a soldier. At first, he denied it, said that he could trust no one outside of his people. He got up on his horse and kept marching with his company. I was desperate so I did the only thing I felt was right: I began following. I was at the rear a couple of meters behind them all. I followed without fail for two days and two nights. 

“On the third day, Baraq Kahn made them all stop at a small river that eventually ran into the Lake Balkhash. I stopped as well, keeping my distance. I fell to my knees and waited, waited until nightfall. Around this time, the company had broken into smaller factions and they all had fires going. The rear soldiers kept staring at me. I think they thought me kind of crazy or retarded because they would constantly joke and laugh at me. I didn’t mind. 

“At least, that was until one of them began to approach me. Let me tell you, feeding me and asking if was ok was not what he had in mind. He began touching my hair, my face, my shoulders. I didn’t allow him to get any further. I pushed him away and stood up. His friends saw what happened and for some reason I still don’t understand about men in general, they saw this as an invitation to mess with me. They tried to close in, surround me, outnumber me. Five against one. Very brave men if you ask me. 

“To this day I'm still unsure of what actually happened. One moment I was surrounded by their horrible smirks and the next… three guys were on the ground, unmoving. One was running for help and the other was below me getting his face punched by my fist. Sort of what happened with the shifter the first time, remember?

“Out of nowhere, a voice boomed to stop the madness. I lifted my face and there he was, Baraq Kahn, right in front of me. He had seen it all from afar. Told me that if I was stubborn enough to follow for days without food or water and yet be strong enough to bring down four of his men then I had truly find my calling. Said I had the fire in me and he agreed to letting me be part of his army. That night, after I bathed in the river, they gave me food, water, clothes and a horse to ride. I already knew how to ride and was used to long distances on horseback. I had that on my side.

“Afterwards, not only did I pick up on the language but, as promised, was trained into the basic direct combat. I guess it came as a surprise for us all when I actually showed aptitude for this discipline and, additionally, was stronger than I ever imagined I was. If you wonder why it was a surprise, remember just how much I suck at dancing which requires a lot of coordination and body control. Yet, when it came to hand-to-hand combat or even sword fighting, well… let us say I wasn’t clumsy anymore. I genuinely have come to the conclusion that the reason behind it is the lack of rhythm in combat. I don’t feel restricted to move this way or the other, I simply move around in order to survive. At least that’s what I think. 

“Next up was archery. Since I could ride just fine, the gave me a short bow with quite a rigid string. It was easy peasy to draw and shoot but I had to work very hard on my aim. I was awful in the beginning. They explained to me that I needed to be efficient with my weapons, I did not have an infinite supply arrows and swords could only be used in close proximity. In the heat of battle, a soldier without a weapon was as good as dead. Not that we wouldn’t die if we had a weapon but you understand my point. 

“For two years I trained while we rode to the epicenter of the conflict zone. Now, let me tell you this, way before that time the Golden Horde had been divided into two fronts: the White and the Blue Hordes. The White would dominate the west and the Blue the east. Baraq Kahn, as well as some others before him had been trying to reunite both territories and establish dominion. My Khan fought against Ulugh Muhammad and Dawlat Berdi for control. 

“In 1422, you could say that we had the battle that changed everything in our favor. Baraq Kahn became the sole ruler of the Horde. That was until his assassination in 1427. 

“We had had so many victories. I almost thought we were unstoppable and that my Kahn would prevail but, during those days, I was so naïve. I had come into the army as a dark horse, everyone expected me to die during my first fight, yet I ended up outliving so many men. To make things even more interesting and frustrating for a lot of people, I wasn’t just a soldier. I was a healer just like my mom and the translator that helped Baraq Kahn gain followers by speaking many tongues.

“Most of my companions respected the position I had earned within our ranks. Baraq Kahn was even teaching me some strategy and politics along with his surrogate sons. I felt good about myself, almost proud but I guess it happened to me what happens to so many women in history. We are pushed aside, hidden from the spotlight merely because of our gender. 

“Some of his most trusted advisors and high ranking officers began to tell my Kahn that it was improper what he was doing with me. He shouldn’t be grooming me in the same way he had groomed Kirai and Janibek. If he wanted me close he should either marry me or make me marry either of his sons not elevate me in the army.

“Once, I overheard it all from an adjacent room. This felt… I'm not even entirely sure of how I felt to be honest. I mean, I had grown up in such a small community that the lines between patriarchy and matriarchy were blurry. We all helped in order to survive and we followed the best leader regardless of their gender. During my marriage I was given quite a lot of freedom to be honest. I earned a reputation of my own and I worked just as hard as any man. So to be listening to this kind of comments from men that I had trusted, that I fought alongside and had promised to protect, it just hurt. 

“One night, I was called in front of Baraq Kahn, he asked for everyone to leave the room. It was just him and me. I remember I was still wearing my armor and yet I felt totally exposed. I was truly scared. I didn’t want another marriage, especially one so soon after… Anyways, the important thing is, he took my hands and told me everything. I was so sad to hear those words coming from his mouth I began to cry. 

“I remember falling to my knees and begging him not to force me into any of those options. It just, broke me. And I think it broke something in him as well because he fell to his knees as well and embraced me. He told me how much he loved me, he even told me I was like another son to him and that he lamented I was woman instead. For a girl like me that grew up without a father figure, this was huge and also, this was the first time I pondered the possibility that my father had left because he had wanted a boy but got me instead. The thought just sunk me deeper.

“I'm not sure how much time went by I just remember that he told me I had a third option. It was painful too but I guess you could say it was the one that would pain me the least. He told me to leave. He would pay for my services like any other soldier. He told me to take my steed, my weapons and just go. So I did. That night, he gave me two bags of golden pieces for my years of service and I left Sighnak.

“That was the last time I saw him. A few months later I learned that he had been assassinated a couple of days after my departure. I mourned and lamented having left. I felt guilty for fleeing. Had I not done that, my Kahn would potentially be still alive. I was lost again. I had no sense of belonging or purpose so I decided it was time for me to go back to my mother in the Anatolian Mountains,” she paused.

Just in time, the voice in the speaker was already telling them to board.

Myriam took her stuff and urged the boys to do the same. She missed a few teary eyes among one or two of them. Most were actually a bit impressed that she had told them anything at all and were still working on processing the new information given to them.

If this was the first half of the 15th century, just what much more could their friend have gone through before they met her?

During the flight, they were planning on asking her some more but fatigue had finally caught up and most of them fell asleep as soon as the plane was in the air. Only Jungkook and Jin remained awake. Their interest had been piqued more than they cared to tell the rest (although everyone noticed anyways). 

Once the belt light was off, they unbuckled and walked almost to the last row of the plane to catch up with their friend. Myriam was sitting comfortably on the seat nearest to the window, the other two were free. Apparently, the rest of the passengers didn’t like those seats too much and Myriam didn’t mind not being that close to the rest of the team. Considering she bought her ticket in the last minute, it had been lucky there had been any seats at all.

Both boys were excited and tried in vain to hide their smiles. Jin sat right next to Myriam and Jungkook had to settle for the aisle seat. 

“Hey boys,” she answered while not even bothering to put down her phone. 

“Noona, can…” Jungkook began while looking around for eavesdroppers. 

“We have questions,” Jin stated matter of fact.

“Blunt as always,” she responded in an endearing tone finally looking up. “Shoot. I can answer some more questions.”

“What was your husband’s name?” Jin began immediately. “What did he do for a living? How long have you been a widow? Did you two have any children? Where did you… Are you ok?”

Myriam’s face had contorted and she found it difficult to swallow.

“I don’t want to answer those questions,” she answered just as bluntly while turning away. 

Her fingers began fidgeting with her tesbih. The boys’ smiles disappeared. They certainly didn’t expect this reaction from her. She had been so open and cooperative so far that it never really crossed their minds that she would deny them any answers. 

“Sorry,” Jin apologized. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“I know. It’s just… it’s a very complicated topic for me. I promise I’ll answer those questions when I'm ready. Please be patient with me”, she responded in a quiet voice. 

“Uhm, ok. No problem,” Jin said on behalf of both boys. “But, can I at least ask at what age were you married off?”

Myriam looked at him with a sad smile. 

“You’re not giving up, huh?”, she inhaled deeply. “Lets see. I think I was… mmm… twenty… two? Yeah, I think that is about right.”

“That’s kind of young,” Jin thought out loud.

“For me that was way too old.”

“Hey! I’m twenty-two and will turn twenty-three this year! That IS very young!” 

Both Jungkook and Myriam laughed, alleviating the tension. Jin joined a beat later. 

“No but noona,” Jungkook finally said when he stopped laughing, “tell us. Honestly, what are our limits? We don’t want to make you feel bad.”

She thought for a second.

“Mmm… for now, my marriage is off limits. That is simply, too painful.”  
  
“More painful than what happened to Sam and Dean?” Jin inquired.  
  
“Something like that.”  
  
“Uhm… so… how about the pirate treasure story?” Jungkook asked carefully this time.  
  
“That, I’ll be more than happy to tell you all about,” the girl responded and got comfortable to begin the tale.


	11. Chapter 11

Back in Korea things just got busier than ever. The Kcon in LA, the MelOn Premier Showcase, the release of the new album and the upcoming of the tour. Everyone was very excited and kept working very hard. Myriam, with everything going on in her life hoped to succeed at her job but always spared a minute to check in with Sam or Cas. 

“Nervous?” she asked one day before the first concert.

The practice was over, the sound checks done, it was all the boys had ever worked for. They wished they could tattoo that date into a very special corner in their memory: October 17th, the beginning of their The Red Bullet Tour. 

“A little,” Namjoon commented with a smile and removing the sweat drops of his forehead with a towel.

“All the protection is up as well,” Tae added with a wink.

“For real? You sure?” she arched an eyebrow.

“Just like you taught us,” Jungkook added. “Though, I think we skipped a few of the farthest walls.”

“Heh, don’t worry about those. I got you covered. Your work was also very good to be the first time,” she complimented. “Oh, Sejin-ssi.”

Everyone turned around to look at the man. He had been their manager for a couple of months now and the guys loved him. 

“Myriam-seonbae,” he bowed respectfully to salute her and then turned his attention to the boys. “Hey, we got to go. It’s late and you still have to take a shower. Tomorrow is a big day and you need to rest. You did well today.”

The guys beamed smiles at him agreeing that they should leave for the night. The nine people got into the van a both the manager as well as the witch listened to their euphoric hopes. If they managed to sell out the entrances for the AX-Korea that would mean that fifteen thousand people had given them a chance. It was an exhilarating thought. 

“Oi, Sejin-ssi,” Myriam got the driver’s attention. “What do you say we buy them diner?”

Behind them, there was still too much chaos for the boys to notice their intentions. The manager looked through the rear mirror and nodded knowingly. 

He drove steadily without anyone noticing until Yoongi, perceptive as always, said out loud:

“This isn’t the way home.”

The rest of the group members caught on to that. They agreed with the second oldest. 

“Hey, where are you taking us?” Jin interrogated.

“Drive-thru,” she answered.

“Diner is on us,” Sejin voiced.

“For real!?” Taehyung chirped. 

“Yup so, order up. I'm taking notes,” the female assured. 

Everyone was so excited they started bombarding her right away. It was fun to see them so cheerful even though they were exhausted from practice. Therefore, they ordered very quickly and hurried back to the apartment.

Bang PD had promised to relocate them to a better apartment the next year if the tour was a success. He should because that tiny place with just one room, mini bathroom, miniature kitchen and just enough space for their low table was getting on Myriam’s nerves. She was aware of the financial situation of the company but to have three bunk beds and a single bed all in one room full of adolescents and barely legal young men was really a sight to behold. 

Still, the members of BTS seemed content. They trusted their boss, their dream and one another. If they kept working hard, they were sure it would pay off in the end. They just needed to be patient. 

Myriam watched from the door as the guys prepared the table, sat themselves down and thanked for the food. Her heart warmed and with a last word of advice, she left the place with Sejin. 

“Do you need to go to the main building seonbaenim?” he asked. 

If they compared looks, she seemed younger than the man. What with him being taller, wearing glasses and being in his early thirties it sure was a bit deceptive. Nevertheless, she had been working at BigHit for a longer time, so he always addressed her respectfully. Myriam was thankful. Being the only foreign working so closely with the group was sometimes seen badly by other staff members.

Funnily enough, it was rarely BigHit’s newcomers. Instead it was the staff from other companies with which she had had some encounters. Yet, just like that Swift girl sang: haters’ gonna hate. So Myriam had stopped burdening herself with unnecessary and unrequested comments. She had too much on her plate as it was with out the unwanted attention. For that, she was happy to work in a very nice environment inside the ranks of BigHit.

“Not really. I mean, it’s closer to where I live I suppose but I don’t need to go to the main building to get to my apartment if you got nothing to do there.”

“Oh! I live close by too. I’ll take the van back and we can head home after that. Sounds good?” 

“In that case, sure.”

There was a silence for a moment.

“Seonbaenim,” he began.

“Yeah?”

“Tomorrow… they will succeed tomorrow, right?”

“I’m sure they will. People will love to see them on-stage. There are many who have been waiting for this to happen so I’m positive ARMY will love it.”

“Yeah, I bet you’re right.”

With that last comment they fell into a comfortable silence and drove on.

The next morning was busy, everyone got up with high hopes. BTS arrived to the concert hall before midday, they tried on all their outfits and checked for any last minute fixing. Everyone but Namjoon’s were perfect. Somehow he had managed to unstitch one pair of pants. The God of Destruction sat down half ashamed, half amused. The others just laughed and teased their poor leader. 

The boys then sat on the chairs and allow the stylists to do their jobs: hair and make up. They were little by little becoming BTS’ Rap Monster, Jin, SUGA, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook. The clock kept ticking. 

The mics were placed, the last encouraging words were shared, places were taken and the show began with their song N.O.

Myriam’s chest filled with pride as she listened to the ARMY’s cheerful screams. BTS performed with all their might to leave a good impression and pay back their fans’ loyalty and trust. It was an amazing feeling for everyone present.

After the concert and on their way to the dorms the boys were satisfied with their work but knew they still had to improve in some aspects. They made a quiet promise that they would do even better the next day.

Manager Sejin smiled pleased. One concert down, nine to go.

The weeks seemed to fly and before they knew it, it was already past mid December. This meant that after the Bangkok concert there was only one more show to go. However, after this presentation Hobi noticed a change in Myriam. True, their friendship was a bit different now but they were still close or so he wanted to think. He had wanted things to stay the same but whenever he asked if she was ok, there was always that small voice in the back of his mind that told him that everything wrong in her life had to do with monsters. That alone unsettled him. 

She noticed. Of course she did so she tried to keep their relationship as normal as possible too or, at the very least, as vague in details as she could the same way she had done since they met. It certainly didn’t help that the young ones were thrilled with the idea of having a witch around. The supernatural factor had added an interesting flavor to their group’s dynamic. Those three had always been close but this was a whole other level. Namjoon, Yoongi and Hobi were particularly restless that they would dive too deep and too carelessly into this stuff. Jin fooled around with the idea to humor the little ones though Hobi was unsure how serious the eldest really was. 

Yet, he couldn’t help but worry about Myriam. First and foremost, she was his friend. That’s why he couldn’t help to notice her anxiety.

“Oi, do you think she’s ok?” Hobi finally asked Yoongi.

“What?” the other responded a bit surprised. “Who?”

Hobi made a head gesture in Myriam’s direction.

“Doesn’t she look a bit… uhm… anxious?” Hobi continued. 

“Do you think it has to do with us or…?”

“Well, last time she was like this, Sam and Dean were looking for the… uhm… th-the dog-thing.”

Yoongi took a second to weigh Hobi’s words.

“Oh, I think you’re right.”

“Should we ask her?”

“Sure, ask her.”

“What?! No. I-I-I don’t think I can. What if something horrible happened or, worse, is about to happen. I-I-I can’t. Not yet.”

Yoongi was silent. He knew well how all this train of new information had affected the lead dancer. Hobi had woken up in fear multiple times in the middle of the night ever since Myriam’s confession. Yoongi was torn. He cared for Myriam but he had never been good at reaching out first. What if he was prying too much? On the other hand, how could he leave Hobi so worried? And so he decided on doing the next best thing.

Hours after they landed in Korea, and finally in her small apartment, Myriam placed the kettle on the stove. She had earned a nice cup of tea. There was one more concert to wrap up this tour which wouldn’t take place until March. Yet from that day until the last presentation, the schedule was very busy. That without considering what was happening with the Winchesters back in the US. She was pondering whether or not she should go to them when her notification bell rang. 

_**Hey, if you got something to say, just spit it out. –Y** _

Myriam smiled. Other than the songs he wrote, Yoongi had never been particularly good at sharing his emotions or having heart-to-hearts. Not even when he really cared for someone. 

_**You ok? –M** _

_**What?! I asked first. >:( –Y ** _

_**Actually, you didn’t. –M** _

_**So what do my first message mean then? –Y** _

The witch couldn’t help but laugh as she placed her mug on the counter. It was very fun to mess with Yoongi. Most of the people thought he was this super cool, serious and mysterious person when they saw him. True, he wouldn’t take trash from anyone and could be savage as hell but in real life Min Yoongi was a very shy person that would magically transform into a goofball when he felt safe. For him to text was strange and Myriam didn’t want to ruin the mood with her family issues but she admired the efforts of BTS’ #1 introvert. He deserved her honesty. 

_**Still there? –Y** _

Without realizing it, she had taken too long to answer. 

_**Sorry, yes. Still here. What gave me away? –M** _

_**You play too much with your bracelet. –Y** _

_**Ah. Sorry. Very old habit. Difficult to get rid of it. –M** _

Nothing.

Yoongi was about to quit and simply fall asleep. Suddenly:

_**Got a message from Sam today. Dean killed Cain. –M** _

_**Isn’t that a good thing? –Y** _

_**Honestly? Not sure. I think about this time and time again and the more I do, the more I worry. If this is true, then that means that Dean is not only the last bearer of the mark but potentially the last Knight of Hell. There is nothing and no one powerful enough to willingly kill him anymore should the worse happen. –M** _

_**Or, at least, not that I can think of right now. –M** _

_**Ah. –Y** _

The answer was short and Myriam’s anxiety crawled back. Her head filled with what-ifs and horrible bloody scenarios. What if Deanmon came back? What if he took over Hell? What if he killed Sam or Cas? What if…

_**Are you going to the bunker then? –Y** _

_**I don’t know if I should. What’s done is done and, like Sam says, even if I go now nothing will change. –M** _

_**Well, whatever you do, be sure to tell us in advance. It would suck to suddenly get to work and find out we are one stylist short. You know just how long it takes to get Jimin ready. –Y** _

_**Promise :-) –M** _

_**Now off to bed. You have to regain your strength for the Christmas Special recording on the 23rd. That’s less than three days from today. –M** _

_**Fine. Goodnight. –Y** _

_**Oh, and, Yoongi? –M** _

_**Mmm –Y** _

_**Thank you –M** _

He didn’t reply back but Myriam was sure he read it. Surprisingly, even though nothing had really changed, the witch felt better, lighter. This made her happy to the core. She sipped from her mug and decided she had earned some rest as well. Something inside her insisted that they’d find a way like they always did. 

Myriam woke up violently next morning. Her heart thumping, the image still stuck in her mind and a buzz in her ears that wouldn’t stop. At fist she was a bit lost in time and space but soon she realized that the buzzing wasn’t in her mind at all. Her phone was vibrating on the night stand nonstop. 

Still felling a bit dizzy, she took the device on her hands thinking it was an incoming call. To her surprise, it turned out to be a newly formed group chat called “The magic 4 and Jin”. Apparently, the younger ones were awake and thought it would be a great day to learn something new. 

Myriam smiled while shaking her head. The clock in her phone marked almost 9 a.m.

_**I’ll be there soon. –M** _

She took a couple of minutes to get ready and retrieved from her hiding place a small ceramic jar and one of her journals/grimoire. It was the very first one she had ever written and contained most of her mom’s teachings. Myriam caressed the cover softly considering for a moment if she should show this to the boys. _What the hell?_ , she thought and placed both items carefully into her old, purple backpack. 

Luckily for her, even though there was some traffic, she lived relatively close from the guys’ place. After she texted, it took her under an hour to be there. Nevertheless, Taehyung swung open the door as soon as she reached their floor. 

“What took you so long?” he asked with a pout.

It was obvious that he (and the other two) had been standing guard by the window until she got into the building. 

“Sorry. Got stuck in traffic,” she apologized as she took off her coat. 

“Noona!” Jimin exclaimed and bounced her way to take the clothing. 

“I see you guys are ready,” Myriam noted as the mischievous Jimin and Tae made her sit down at the table. 

Little Jungkookie was also sitting down, pen and paper on his hand to take notes. Myriam snorted. He was never this excited when it came to school. None of them really. Yet, here they were, all ready for class. 

The witch got her journal out. Since this was the first grimoire they had ever seen, the boys were mesmerized. 

“Is that…?” Tae couldn’t even finish.

“Well, this is my first journal slash grimoire. I was never sure what format I should use so I kind of mixed it all. Afterwards I met another witch who taught me how to do it properly but this will forever be my favorite,” she explained as she laid the book on the table. 

“May I?” Jimin asked.

“Sure. Just be careful. Even with the preservation spell this is quite fragile.”

The tome was at least three fingers thick. The paper was a bit yellow on the edges and the dark-brown, leather cover felt worn out. Jimin and the other two were a bit taken aback. 

The handwriting was pretty and there were small pouches specially pasted on some pages where flowers, seeds, leaves or herbs (both alive and dried out) could be found. There were also a couple of drawings equally pasted on some of the pages next to some texts. The amount of details in the little pieces of paper and the technique were beautiful. 

“Noona, I didn’t know you could draw like this?” Jungkook finally commented. 

“Oh! I can’t. That’s why I got those in the first place, a friend of mine made them for me. He was such a prodigy with the brush. He usually painted larger pieces but I begged him to recreate some of his work in this size. I only pasted them.”

It was a bit hard to believe that those tiny landscapes were once real places. The language, just like the sceneries, was completely foreign to them so if there was an explanation, they couldn’t understand it. 

“I can’t read it,” Tae finally stated the obvious. 

“Of course you can’t. It’s written in old, rough Turkish combined with Latin. I would actually be surprised if you could read it.”

“Latin?” Jimin asked.

“Yeah,” Myriam said softly with a hint of sadness in her voice but a smile on her face. “My mom, she uhm… she was born in Italy. I think she told me that somewhere around the beginning of the year 1100. Maybe a little afterwards, she was never sure. Anyways, she came from a line of witches but since Christians were hunting them down she had to flee at an early age. My grandma and her arrived at the Anatolian mountains during an epidemic. With their knowledge in magic and herbs they were able to heal the people. It wasn’t easy but they were eventually welcome within the community. I never met my grandmother but my mom used to tell me stories about her and how she passed away at the age of 499. Said she remembered because it was an infuriating number.”

“Wasn’t it dangerous to stay for so long in one community? I mean with you not aging and stuff?” Jimin asked. 

“Mmm… I guess it was a risky move but ultimately my mom and grandma chose to trust the Yörüks. It was a win-win for both in the end. Besides, my family did age, just, slower. Of course there were challenges and obstacles but ultimately, like I said, they became part of the community as did I. My mom taught me Latin and I also got some other teachers along my childhood. Instead of a payment in coin, my mom sometimes would ask her patients to share knowledge with us. That’s the kind of woman she was. So I got people who taught me how to read and write, people who taught me “Ottoman Turkish” and some other stuff.”

“Whoa. So you can say you were homeschooled?” Tae added.

“That is what my CV says,” she winked. 

“Noona,” Jungkook piped up, “where are all this places or… were?”

Myriam’s smile changed for good and she proceeded to explain animatedly.

“These first ones are my home: The Anatolian Mountains. This particular spot is where our winter camp used to be, just outside Sanliurfa. It was on the southern part of Turkey which was warmer on those months. These that follow were the stops we did while traveling to Korea.”

She stopped short. Her lower lip quivered for a second. 

“A-anyways uhm… not my point. I brought this grimoire because most of my research and knowledge of Korean herbology are here,” she paused as she moved the pages forward. “Here. Today I’ll teach you two remedies that will come in handy. One is for sore throat and the other is a balm for muscular pain and cuts.”

“But we already have medicine for that,” Jimin argued. 

The three boys seemed a bit disappointed at what she had to offer. They were definitely hoping for something juicier. Learning about the magic sigils for protection had been really interesting and the silencing spell was great but this seemed so… boring. 

“True, you have modern medicine at your disposal but I'm willing to bet my remedies are better.”

The young ones still looked unsure. 

“Fine. Let’s bet. If my remedy works better than yours, I’ll get a favor I can collect whenever I want. If you win, I’ll teach you whatever you want,” she offered. 

“It’s a trap,” Yoongi warned from the bedroom. 

“Hyung!” Tae countered a bit offended. 

“Oh, so you were all listening after all,” Myriam teased. “Hi there.”

“Deal!” Jimin held out his hand.

The female shook his hand, then Tae’s and finally Jungkook’s.

“Ok. One of you go get whatever product you would use for a cut.”

Tae got up.

“Jin-hyung! Where’s the first-aid kit?”

Jin came out of the bedroom and went to one of the cabinets in the kitchen.

“Here you go. Why do you need it?” the oldest handed the white box. “Who’s hurt?”

“Well, I might need a volunteer. Would you like to be my guinea pig?” Myriam commented in a teasing tone. 

“Nope, I just came for some water,” Jin scuttled back to the room after filling a glass and closed the door behind him. 

Everyone laughed.

“Ok, ok but for real, I need a volunteer,” the girl was finally able to say.

Laughter faded away and dubious about what could potentially happen, the young ones looked at each other, unsure. They figured it was going to hurt, even if it was just a little. The witch watched them. She couldn’t help but think about small children in line to get vaccinated. It was very funny to her. 

Finally, Jungkook raised his hand a bit. 

“Oki doki,” she nodded. “Place your hands on the table, face up. Good, now, stretch your arms towards me.”

“Ouch.”

In a single move, the girl had made a cut on both index fingers. It had happened so quickly none of the boys had seen it actually happen. They never even noticed when their friend had gotten a knife on her hands until she placed it on the table for everyone to see. 

More than a knife though, it seemed more like a letter opener. It was quite small and easily concealed. 

“When… where…?” Jimin tried asking in disbelief. 

“Noona, you were like a ninja! I just heard a small whoosh and it was over!” Jungkook articulated excited. 

“Old trick. Lots of practice. Pretty handy when playing cards,” she winked at the boy. 

The young men looked mesmerized as the blood dripped from the youngest’s finger tips. It wasn’t an awfully deep cut but that amount of blood seemed ridiculous. Tae panicked a bit. He took out some gauze from the kit and pressed it lightly against the injuries. 

“Now, Taetae, apply some of your balm to the right index,” the female instructed. 

Taehyung obeyed. The bleeding didn’t stop completely but it created a type of paste on top of the wound. 

“Jimin,” the witch took out her little jar, “apply this to the left index.”

The paste inside the jar was a suspicious green color but didn’t smell that bad. Jimin followed the instructions given to him. The remedy felt a bit thick on his fingers but almost as soon as Jimin applied it to the affected area, Jungkook’s skin absorbed the remedy leaving nothing behind but the stain of blood. 

“It didn’t even leave a scar,” Jungkook said upon further inspection.

The guys now had stars in their eyes. 

“I win.”

The stylist seemed very pleased with herself.

“HYUNGS!” Jungkook boomed. “HYUNGS YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!”

The youngest barged in the bedroom making it clear that everyone had been summoned. 

“Oi! Jungkoook-ah what happened? Why are you still bleeding?” Namjoon asked concerned. 

“Come! Come!” Jungkook insisted as he took his place back at the table. 

He cleaned the artificial product off his right index prompting a new wave of blood to start running down his finger. The older members approached to see. Kook took some of Myriam’s balm and watched the cut disappear as soon as the remedy touched his affected skin. 

“Whoa!” Jin and Namjoon said in unison. 

“Works better with superficial cuts and muscle pain. Deeper cuts would require more than one application or a different balm,” Myriam explained. 

“Muscle pain?” Namjoon’s interest was piqued. “That sounds handy.”

“What does it feel like Jungkookie?” Jin asked.

“Mmm… it stung a bit the first couple of seconds. Then… nothing really. It’s like when you apply alcohol to an open wound. Right now it feels nice though. Like… mmm… it tickles but in a nice way,” he tried to answer as best as he could. 

“Whoa,” Hobi said impressed. 

“Told you it was a trap,” Yoongi pointed out before going back to his room. 

“W-would it work for my legs?” Hobi asked shyly. 

Myriam was a bit surprised.

“Sure. Take some with your fingers and apply on the affected zone. It should feel better straightaway,” she answered handing him the jar. 

“You don’t need it?” he asked a bit unsure. 

“Not now.”

“Thanks.”

Hobi went into the bathroom and both Jin and Namjoon sat down with a renewed interest for the class. 

“Ok. First thing’s first. Ingredients,” Myriam began. 

Five minutes later they all saw Hobi coming out of the restroom with a serious face. 

“Did it work?” Jin asked interrupting the teacher mid-sentence. “Sorry noona.”

“No problem,” she answered.

She too was curious. 

“Mm? Oh, yeah. It works,” Hobi said a bit distracted. 

“Are you ok?” Myriam ventured. 

“Yeah. It’s just…” he paused not knowing how to continue. “I… I haven’t felt like this in a while. Feels weird not to have something that hurts you anymore.”

They all smiled. 

“In that case, we promise to learn the recipe quickly so we can always have some around,” Jimin declared. 

“I'm counting on you all for that,” Hobi responded. 

He left the jar on the table and walked to the bedroom closing the door behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Myriam took a peak at the mush.

“It needs more rosemary and peony licorice,” she moved it with a wooden spoon. “You used too much arrowhead violet and the flame is too high. Look, the bottom is burning and turning black.”

“Argh!” Jimin pulled his hair.

He had tried making the stupid balm several times now and he just got it wrong every single time. It was even more infuriating to know that little Jungkook got it almost perfect on his first try and Jin’s ointment had impressed Myriam the one time that he made it. 

His balms always were either short on something or left for too long on the fire or with an excess of certain ingredient. His teacher fixed it in the end, of course. As she put it: she wasn’t throwing away good material if there was a way to save it. Now, they had tons of flasks stored in the kitchen cabinets, the bathrooms and even some at Myriam’s place. 

On the bright side, Mr. Bang PD had been true to his words and found a new apartment for them. They were still a bit tight but at least this place had three bedrooms instead of one. Still the smell of the concoction wasn’t that nice when wrongly prepared (which, in Jimin’s case, was always) and the flat was filled with the stench constantly. 

The sore throat potion though, was Jimin’s pride. It was actually super easy to make and didn’t require as many ingredients. It was like making tea save for the chant that went along with the stirring. The only downside of this was that Myriam’s preservation spell didn’t work on it. You had to take it freshly made or it would go to waste. 

The boy was now very annoyed with all this potion making but was hell-bent in getting it right at some point. 

“Ok, enough,” Myriam breathed out as she saved the potion again. “Taetae, Jungkookie, new recipe.”

“What?!” Jimin voiced loudly. “I almost got it right this time. Please, give me one last chance.”

“Sorry Jimin, that was the last of my caterpillar fungus. I need to put that down on my list to buy later, by the way,” the witch responded. 

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

Tae and Jungkook finally appeared with their pens and papers. Taehyung looked a bit down. He had tried making the balm once and gave up after burning most of it on the first few steps. The throat potion hadn’t gone that much better either. Apparently, he had used too much halmi kkot and his voice became squeaky for the rest of the day. 

After that disaster he hadn’t tried making either recipe again. He even began considering taking a different path. Perhaps magic wasn’t his calling. Tae thought of simply skipping the lesson and talk to Myriam later about his feelings. She would understand. Yet, in the end, he went to the common space to continue his training. 

“Oki doki. I know I said new recipe but I've changed my mind. I’ll teach you a tracking spell instead.”

The six pair of eyes sparkled. 

“It will require several ingredients though,” she began taking the stuff out of her bag again. “Most of the ingredients are easily found anywhere nowadays but I highly suggest you try to buy the products as organic as you can. The results will be better that way. Now, this is the hardest one to get.”

She showed them a vial with oil.

“This is sandalwood oil. Expensive as hell let me tell you but what makes it truly rare is that it was blessed by a devoted cloister monk during a full moon. Which is exactly what we need for this ritual. You know how hard it is to come by one of those this days?” Myriam said with a sigh. 

“Cloister monks?” Tae wondered.

“Truly devoted monks,” she corrected. “Luckily I still know a few so I can always get some consecrated oil. At least for now.”

“Will we need someone’s belongings or hair or… blood? Like in the movies,” Jungkook asked.

“There are indeed some location spells that need such things, but what I like about this particular one is that just by knowing the person you can find them. This spell can tell you not only the where but the when as well. Isn’t that cool?” Myriam answered excitedly.

“The… when?” Tae was confused. 

“Yup. Even if whomever you are looking for has time traveled, you can find them too. That’s just how good this spell is.” 

“Time travel?” Jimin exclaimed. 

“Yup. It’s an extremely difficult spell which requires a lot of power. Un… Cas used it a couple of times on the Winchesters to get them to the past, and there was also this other angel… what was his name? Oh, yeah, Zachariah. Well, he sent Dean into the future once. Other than angels, I haven’t met any other being strong enough to perform the time traveling spell.”

“Y-you never told us that,” Jimin said. 

“Yeah, you didn’t tell us that the Winchesters had time traveled,” Tae pouted.

“Oh, sorry. Must have omitted that detail.”

“Have you time traveled?” Jungkook asked. 

“Nope. No need for me to go back again. Not really interested either,” she brushed off. “Anyways, here’s how you do the spell.”

“Noona wait. Can we time travel?” Tae asked, eyes sparkling again. 

“I’m not sure but wouldn’t really count on it. Angels needed their wings in order to send you to the past and they all lost them,” she reasoned. 

Tae looked a bit disappointed but allowed their teacher to proceed. She spent the following fifteen minutes explaining how to select and pour the ingredients along with how to draw the sigil they would need to make the spell work. 

“Now, for the final touch, we chant the spell,” she concluded. 

“Chant? Which spell?” Jimin voiced.

“The one I have in this piece of paper,” she showed said item. “Only one of you will be able to do the spell this time though. Choose who.”

“Rock-paper-scissors!” Jimin exclaimed.

The other two readied their hands.

“One go. The winner gets to do the spell,” Tae instructed.

“Deal,” Jungkook agreed.

“1-2-3!” they chanted at the same time. 

“NO!!” Jimin lamented.

It was up to Tae and Jungkook.

“1-2-3!”

“YEY!” the winner celebrated showing off his scissors. 

He leaned over the table to take the paper form Myriam’s hand.

“Now, listen very carefully before you open that thing. You need to have the person’s face in your mind at the same time you read it. I made phonetic guide so you can practice first. Do not say it out loud until you feel ready. We only have the one go. Understood?” the witch instructed. 

Tae nodded. 

“Go ahead.”

The young man opened the piece of paper and prepared himself for a full minute before he slowly chanted the spell out loud.

“Zod ah ma ra la ee est la gu ro sa”

A red flame bursted from the bowl and next thing Taehyung knew, he had a terrible headache and felt real dizzy while tons of images started pouring into his mind. He could see the person he had evoked and, like in Google maps, he was able to zoom in and out, taking in all the surroundings. He was even able to see an address appear in front of his closed eyes. 

“What’s happening?! Why did he scream?!” Namjoon entered the common area alarmed.

“W-we were doing this new spell… there was a red flame and then…” Jimin tried to explain as both him and Jungkook held Tae.

Myriam watched, apparently unbothered.

“You see your person Tae?”

Was her first question once the youngest opened his eyes and started blinking. 

“Y-yeah.”

“Address?”

“45 Keunjang-ro 26-gil, Daesin-dongin Daegu. She’s grocery shopping at the Seomun Market,” he said with a croaky voice. 

All the hyungs had gathered around Tae trying to figure out a way to help the poor boy but after his words, all six of them looked very surprised. Taehyung’s head began to clear, the pain passed. 

“Sorry for not warning you about this but I feared that if I told you, it would have distracted you. That would have made the ritual fail but, hey, you did it. Who did you locate?” Myriam apologized. 

“My grandma. It was nice seeing her,” he smiled.

“Taehyung-ah, are you ok?” Namjoon asked still concerned. 

“Yeah. A bit dizzy but it’s passing.”

“Does it hurt that much?” Jimin wondered. 

“Only in the beginning, then I could only feel the dizziness,” he explained.

“Oi, don’t teach them this sort of stuff,” Hobi scolded Myriam in a serious voice. “It’s not nice to hear them scream like that.”

“Sorry Hoseok, but most magic comes with a price either physical or of another kind. The little headache is necessary for this specific spell which doesn’t require blood or hair or the person’s belongings. It’s handy, accurate and, all things considered, physically affordable to you,” she countered equally serious.

“Why would they ever need to use this?” Hobi kept complaining. 

“If anyone goes missing and I'm not around this is the spell to use.”

“Nowadays there’s a lot of technology to prevent that or, better yet, to solve that kind of mysteries. Authorities are always willing to help.”

Everyone else was silent, feeling the tension increase between those two.

“What if it doesn’t happen in Korea? What if the disappearance is not caused by humans? You can’t be sure authorities will always be helpful. Besides, I'm only providing a last resource tool, I don’t expect them to use it on a daily basis. I understand your worries, I worry too but I rather teach them properly than having them dive recklessly into some dark and dangerous magic on their own. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Hobi sighed in defeat. 

“Just… be careful ok? And at least tell us in advance so that we know what to expect.” 

“Promise.”

Hobi went back to his room and the other members let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. 

“I'm really, really sorry guys,” Myriam said, head hanging low. “You are my responsibility I should’ve warned you.”

She began collecting her stuff. 

“But…” JK started.

“Class dismissed,” she cut him off. 

Next day things were still a bit tense. The young ones were not sure if their noona was going to come to the apartment or not. They had been busy filming some stuff for future release and the hair and make up time, which would usually be pretty fun and loud, was clearly diminished due to the tension between those two. Even Mrs. Park and Mrs. Lim, two of the other stylists noticed. Therefore, it was unsure whether or not Myriam was teaching them something that evening or not. 

To their surprise, they all heard the doorbell near 9 o’clock. 

Tae ran to open up. 

“Hey, may I come in?” Myriam greeted awkwardly. 

“Yeah, yeah. Please come in.”

“Uhm… is Hoseok in his bedroom?”

“Y-yeah. Want me to call him out?” he offered.

“Sure,” she paused. “A-actually, can you call everyone out please?”

After a minute or so everyone was gathered around the dining room’s table. The girl waited patiently before she started speaking again. 

“I owe you an apology. Like I said to Taehyung yesterday, I should have warned him instead of worrying about the ingredients. As long as you are my pupils you are my responsibility,” she said to the young ones and then turned to the four hyungs. “I understand your worries and I don’t diminish them in any way. Believe me, I've considered so many scenarios in my head about what could potentially go wrong with this lessons that I've been tempted to simply wipe all your memories away and just make it easier. To make you forget about all the monsters and the magic and Dean and Sam and Cas and… 

“What I'm trying to say is that among all the bad and evil of this revelations, I truly believe there is some good that we can all take advantage of but I will stop if you ask it of me. You seven are way more important to me than you might possibly ever imagine and I value each friendship more than anything I have. You guys are family to me and I was taught that family always comes first. I want you all to think about it, real hard. Discuss it as a group, emotions aside. I’ll stop if you tell me to.” 

There was a pause. 

“I’ll wait outside.”

The guys looked perplexed as they saw their friend leave the apartment. The soft click of the door was the only indicative that she was gone. 

“Is she serious?” Jin wondered, breaking the silence. “Has she really been considering wiping away our memory? Just like that?”

“Ignorance is bliss, I suppose,” Namjoon answered. 

“Nah ah, she is not going to take all of it back. Took her years to finally tell us something. There are tons of things I want to know now,” Jin countered. “Can you believe this girl?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to forget either. Even if she stopped with her lessons I still want her to be comfortable with us. The real her, no secrets,” Tae shared. 

“I think, for some reason, that even now, she is holding something back,” Yoongi commented in a low voice. 

“Well yeah, there is a lot she still hasn’t told us but aside from her married life, she has been very open about pretty much anything we ask her,” Jin countered. “We don’t even know half of her story yet but we will get there. I'm sure.”

“I agree with Jin-hyung. There is so much I would like to ask her myself but I do see her point. I don’t think she means it could be easier for us to simply forget about it, I think she really means it would be safer. But what if anything like what happened to Jin-hyung ever happens again? We might not be so lucky next time. I guess it’s good to be prepared but we also need to be very careful if we decide to go on,” Namjoon reasoned. 

Yoongi and Jin nodded with serious faces. The three younger members listened intently somehow feeling this was their fault but didn’t argue. Hobi was completely silent. 

“I think,” Yoongi began and everyone turned their attention to him, “that we should put some limits. Maybe this way it would be easier for everyone.”

“What kind of limits?” Tae asked quietly. 

“Maybe, I don’t know, wait for her to take the initiative. Stop asking her for lessons and be contempt with what she wants to share. After all, we don’t need all her knowledge. It’s not like we are hunters or anything,” Yoongi offered.

“But…” Jungkook cut himself straight away.

“Jungkookie,” Jin said softly but with no place for the young one to reply, “we are not hunters. We are performers, artists, idols. There are too many eyes on us to be playing around with such dangerous stuff.” 

Jungkook had to sit that down. He knew that Jin’s argument was completely true.

“So, do we all agree?” Namjoon tried to wrap up. 

They all nodded.

“Can you call Myriam back in Jungkookie?” the leader asked.

Jungkook got up and called in their friend.

“I’m guessing you made up your minds.”

“We decided to keep our memories intact, thank you very much,” Jin answered. “Don’t you ever dare to take that away from us without having our permission.”

His voice was almost threatening but Myriam knew that tone all too well. It meant he was serious but didn’t want to sound too stern. The irony. 

“Yeah. What hyung said, basically,” Namjoon continued. “We want you to feel comfortable around us. To let you, be you. We can take it. We aren’t as fragile as you might think. Trust us.”

“Magic lessons are ok too,” Yoongi followed up. “Don’t push yourself too much. No need to have a schedule or a syllabus. Just teach what you want whenever you feel like it. We promise to respect what you want to share but a heads up would be nice so we don’t repeat anything like what happened with Taehyung.”

“Mm-hmm. Please keep teaching us,” Jimin and Tae said almost at the same time, bowing their heads.

Jungkook bowed as well. 

“Are you really sure? It would be easier to just…”

“Nop! No! Na-ah!” Jin interrupted her. “No way.”

“But, are you really ok with me being a… a…”

“A witch?” Tae tried. “Sure.”

“A monster,” she corrected.

“Noona!” Jimin exclaimed. “You are NOT a monster. What gave you that idea?”

“How can you know I'm not a monster? It’s not like you have seen me outside of work,” she lowered her head.

“And what would you call this reunion then? Overtime?” Yoongi replied sarcastically. 

“You know what I mean. You have never seen me hunting, not really,” she insisted. “It’s not too late to turn around.”

“Why are you being like this all of a sudden? It’s not like you to insist this much on anything,” Yoongi noted narrowing his eyes and crossing his arm over his chest. “What is it? Really.”

“Because…” she cut short.

How could she tell them? It hadn’t come to pass yet. It could always be wrong or a mistake. So why did she feel so restless?

“Because?” Tae pushed a little.

Everyone’s attention was on her. Their hearts beat a little faster and they couldn’t help being extremely curious. Judging by her body language, these weren’t great news but they just couldn’t help it. She sighed in defeat and sat down, next to Taehyung. 

“Something is coming. Something big. Not sure what it is but I'm quite positive my family is involved.”

“How can you be so sure?” Namjoon wondered.

Myriam shuffled around her bag for a second and retrieved a small, rectangular box. She placed it on the table and opened it. The guys were a bit surprised to see an old tarot deck in it.

“I made a question today,” she paused, not willing to touch the cards again. “I got scared to be honest. I wasn’t even able to finish the last reading.”

Everyone was silent, not really certain where to look. 

“I tried different card formations and asking in different ways. The readings all ended up saying pretty much the same thing,” she looked up at them. “Something big is coming.”

“Didn’t know you believe in cards,” Jimin tried to ease the tension.

“Sure do. Learned back in the early 1600’s. Been doing it ever since whenever I feel like I need some guidance.”

“You learned all on your own?” Tae caught on to Jimin’s idea.

“No. Carmen taught me. Actually, this deck is all I have left of her. She was a gypsy, you know? Met her in Granada. Sad story,” Myriam shared. 

For a second, the guys thought they had managed to make her stop focusing on the previous conversation. They were wrong. 

“Considering this reading and my family’s history, all I can say is that I'm scared of what is to come. Like I told you before, usually when we are involved, we are talking about problems of apocalyptic proportions. So if you want to back down, now is the time to do it. It’ll be as if I never existed for you. I’ll fade away and, probably, go back to the US. No need to say goodbye, no need to suffer or worry about a fight that isn’t even yours,” she encouraged. 

“No!” Jungkook was unable to hold back any longer. “Noona, please, just… stay.”

It was uncommon for him to speak up like that to someone older than him, let alone a female. Yet, everyone else agreed with him and spoke up almost at the same time. 

“It’s not fair!” Jin exclaimed. “Don’t make that choice for us!”

“I don’t want to forget you!” Tae pleaded as he clung to her sleeve. 

“We want to be your pupils!” Jimin said energetically. 

“You’re part of our family too. You can’t give up on us without giving us a chance first,” Namjoon retorted. 

“You’re stuck with us now,” Yoongi let out. 

Myriam’s heart felt warm as the loud words filled her ears. Everyone’s except for one. Hobi kept silent all through the raucous. Something wasn’t right. She felt it, he felt it but none dared to take the next step.

That night, Myriam left the apartment with mixed feelings. She was happy for sure to have this much support but dreaded the day the boys would be more like Hobi and see her for what she really was: a monster.


	13. Chapter 13

“Babygirl!”

The voice on the other side of the line piped. Myriam would know that voice anywhere in the universe and was so glad to hear it, even if it was through a phone. 

“Hi sweetie,” the witch answered, aware of their complicity.

“Hey… uhm… busy?”

If Myriam didn’t know her friend better she would have totally missed the shakiness in the voice at the end of the question. 

“For you? Never. Are you ok?”

“Uhm… yeah. So far so good. Got some news. Is it really ok to talk right now?”

The girl looked around her, the other stylists were looking at her from the corner of their eyes, some filming crew were trying their best to keep the mics away from her but the boy she was preparing for the Mnet M Countdown mini fan meeting made it a bit hard. It was also important to point out that those seven boys had their ears completely open towards her conversation.

“Briefly.”

“I found it,” the voice on the other side of the line blurted out. “I’m on my way to the airport now.”

Myriam’s eyes grew in surprise and excitement. She couldn’t hold back the huge smile that came after those words. 

“For real? Where?”

“Spain.”

“Charlie, you are awesome!”

“I know, I know. I’ll let you know when I'm back at the US. I think you should come in too. This thing is old and is written in some really strange language. I've never seen anything like this before,” Charlie said.

“That’s a deal. Let me know when you guys are ready. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Ok. Got to go. Bye,” Charlie cut the call short.

Myriam could feel hope bubbling once again in her chest. Of course this was a very risky move but they had nothing else to hold on to. She felt some relief at last. 

“Someone seems happy,” Mrs. Park said in a teasing tone. 

“Who’s Charlie? Your boyfriend?” Mrs. Lim followed up.

“Sorry?” Myriam was a bit thrown back. 

“I mean, my English is not that good but I can understand things like ‘sweetie’ and ‘I’ll be there’,” Mrs. Park kept saying in a playful tone. 

“Oh that! Nah, you got it all wrong. Charlie is a friend,” Myriam said dismissively.

“What kind of friends call each other ‘sweetie’?” Yoongi called out from the chair. 

Myriam looked down at him a bit lost for a second and then it clicked her. She doubled herself in laughter at the confusion. Some of the other members were even infected by the sound and began laughing as well unsure of why. She finally pulled herself together after a minute and kept working. 

“Oh dear. It’s been such a long while since I last laughed like that. Thanks everyone. Charlie is my friend and teacher. I met her a couple of years ago. She’s one of a kind and when she began calling me ‘babygirl’ I thought it would be fun to play along so I began calling her ‘sweetie’. She’s real nice.”

“She?” Jimin sounded really disconcerted. 

“Yeah.”

“I always thought Charlie was a guy. Didn’t you say Charlie was a great hacker?” Namjoon noticed too late what he had just said. 

Everyone else in the staff looked a bit disconcerted at the revelation. 

“Yeah. What does it matter if Charlie is a girl or a guy? She’s amazing at what she does,” Myriam didn’t seem bothered at the comment. “Girls can be geniuses too you know?”

“I-I didn’t mean… s-sorry,” Namjoon apologized. 

“No worries. There is no harm done and we don’t mind. We are used to being underestimated. That can be a great weapon too you know? The looks on the faces of those who doubted us and lost against us in the end are worth it,” she kept saying as she finished with Yoongi’s hair. “All done sir.” 

Some of the present were a bit unsure as to how to interpret the words of their co-worker but the boys understood all too well what Myriam meant. Most of the boy-band members couldn’t help but remember that night in L.A. when they saw this girl knock down a “guy” way taller and, seemingly, stronger than her. She was right. Underestimating someone could be fatal in any scenario.

There was nothing more worth of noticing during the day. The boys enjoyed the fan meeting and they also filmed their segment for the Mnet. By the time they reached their apartment it was quite late. Somewhere between 9 and 10 pm. 

“I’m showering first,” Jin commented. 

“I’ll take the other bathroom then,” Hobi responded. 

“Sure no problem. Go ahead,” Namjoon said as he sat down at the dining room table. 

The three youngsters were also dragging their feet to their bedrooms when they heard the doorbell. Everyone suspected who that was so they stopped short on their tracks to wait for someone to open the door. Yoongi was the closest. 

“Hey,” Myriam saluted. “Got a few minutes? Promise I won’t take long.”

Yoongi moved to the side and let their friend in. 

“Well, I’ve been texting with Charlie for a couple of minutes now. Apparently she flew from… well, I would like you to hear it for yourselves,” she seemed really excited. 

She joined Namjoon at the dining table and, little by little everyone else came in and sat down. 

“Does she speak Korean?” was Jin’s first question. 

“No but that reminds me,” she began ruffling stuff in her backpack again. “I got you a present!”

She held a black, velvet pouch and then took out a bracelet from it. It was a lot like the one Miss Seol, the shapeshifter, showed to them back then. But instead of having only a white bead and a deep green bead, this one had twelve different color beads, the rest looked a lot like the seeds on Myriam’s bracelet. 

“Is that for us?” Tae asked. “It looks like the one you gave the shifter.”

“Yup. Made one for each of you. Finally realized what I was doing wrong with my translation spell and fixed it. I had been trying to make it work with the quartzes and the lava rocks, didn’t realize I needed something a bit stronger to fit my needs. So I substituted the lava rocks with aged Rudraksha beads. These allowed the spell to work much better. There’s still a limit to what they can do but, at the very least, it also works with just the sound,” she began handing one to each boy. 

“What do you mean just the sound?” Namjoon was curious. 

“I mean they work even if it’s through a phone call, a video or something of the sorts. You could be watching a movie in French right now and would still be able to understand. They are not bound to face-to-face contact anymore.”

Most of the boys made a small oh with their mouths. Yoongi and Jin raised their eyebrows, quite impressed. They sounded pretty handy.

“I’m guessing every color is a different language,” Yoongi spoke up putting on his bracelet. 

“Correct again. I’ll tell you now all of them but remind me to write down the list for you later. Ready? Here goes: white is Korean; dark green is Spanish; light green is Italian; dark blue is Russian; light blue is French; bright red is Japanese; deep red is English; black is German; yellow is Portuguese; gold is Chinese; silver is Turkish and orange is Armenian. You just place a finger on whichever language you need, wait for the Rudraksha beads to change color and voilá! You will understand and be understood,” Myriam explained. 

“Whoa!” Jimin exclaimed. “Wish we could use this during interviews.”

“Yeah, they would make things so much easier,” Hobi agreed. 

“Ok, everyone. Synchronize the language to English. I'm dialing already.”

The phone rang three times on the speaker and then…

“Hey Babygirl,” came the voice of another female. 

“Hi sweetie, how was your flight?” 

“You mean flights? Ok, I guess. Long, boring, not much to say about those. Wish you had been there with me. I would’ve at least had someone to talk to.”

“Sorry about that but hey, uhm, I would like to introduce you to some friends of mine if that’s ok with you.”

“Oh, you mean you Asian boy band with which you are cheating on me?”

The question hung on the air for a couple of seconds. The guys weren’t really sure if Charlie was being serious or not but Myriam knew that tone all too well. Charlie was already messing up with them.

“Oh honey, no need to be jealous. You know I love you, don’t you?”

Charlie sighed.

“I know. I'm also assuming we’re on speaker right now.”

“Yup.”

“Hey everyone. Nice to meet you. I'm Charlie,” she piped through the phone. 

“Hi,” the boys saluted at the same time.

“Nice to meet you,” Jin elaborated further, “I'm Kim Seokjin.”

“We had been wondering about you ever since noona told us you were a hacker,” Tae seconded. “I'm Kim Taehyung by the way.”

“Just until today we thought you were a guy. Sorry about that. I'm Park Jimin,” the boy commented with a huge smile.

“Hi I'm Kim Namjoon.”

“I’m Min Yoongi.”

“H-hey, I-I’m Jeon Jungkook. I'm very excited to meet you.”

“HELLO! My name is Jung Hoseok but you can call me Hobi.”

“Well, well, well. I see that a lot of information about me has been running around, but I guess not enough if you didn’t know I was a chic. Myriam, I'm supposed to be anonymous,” she said in a fake whinny tone. “No but, being serious, its great meeting you too. I'm a huge fan.”

“Wait, you listen to our music?” Jimin was surprised.

“You know BTS?!” Jin exclaimed.

“Of course, Myriam listens to your music aaaaall the time when we are together. Its hard not to know about you guys,” Charlie confirmed. “Congrats on your new album by the way.”

Myriam was as red as a beet when the guys looked at her. All of them were smirking pleased to see this part of her. 

“Any favorites so far?” Yoongi ventured. 

“Mine or hers? I like War of Hormone and Jump, quite catchy if you ask me. She likes Coffee and…”

“Charlie?” Myriam interrupted. “Why don’t you tell them about your trip? It was quite something if you ask me.”

“My flight? Boring, long but could’ve been worse I guess. Flew from Moscow to New York, then to Chicago and to Des Moines. Wasn’t that bad. Took almost 14 hours total. I’ll drive the rest of the way to the bunker. I was actually thinking crashing at a motel for a few hours before I hit the road but…”

“Charlie? You’ve been weird about that all day. What is it?” Myriam pressured. 

“Well, uhm, you know I told you I found the book in Spain?”

“Book?” Taehyung asked.

“Yeah, the Book the Damned,” Charlie clarified. 

All the smiles from the guys disappeared. 

“What’s that?” Namjoon ventured. 

“It’s a spell book to create and undo any curse there is. I'm quite sure Myriam has told you the situation with Dean.”

“About the mark? Yeah,” Jin assured.

“Well, a while ago we heard about this thing. It’s not like we can be picky about our options either so I've been tracking it down. Turns out the last time it was seen, it was in a monastery in Spain,” she recounted. 

“Which is basically where you found it?” Namjoon offered. 

“Y-yes and no,” Charlie doubted. “The monastery was burned down years ago buuuuut I found the crypt underneath. Did a little digging and… TA-DA!”

“C-crypts?” Hobi stammered.

“Yeah. Sometimes you got to get dirty to get what you need,” Charlie brushed off. “Anyways, I take the book and some research notes from the crypt and as soon as I'm out of the ground, these bunch of… southern-fried-d-bags are all over me. Th-they uhm…”

“Charlie?” Myriam knew something bad was happening. 

“I, uhm… Darn it. I really didn’t want to tell you this.”

She paused and sighed before continuing. 

“These dudes, they are well trained and, somehow, they’ve been able to track me down this whole time. Well, not me but, I'm sure they can track the book,” she sounded scared now. 

“Figures that something like the Book of the Damned can be tracked. By what you say it’s quite special. Now, Charlie, Charlie,” Myriam demanded full attention, “you need somewhere safe. Do not go to a motel start driving to the bunker as soon as you can and call Sam and Dean. You hear me?”

“Ok… ok, you’re right. I’ll find some wheels and…”

The sound of phone falling was dulled by the shot. Everyone tensed up as they heard struggle followed by running footsteps.

Aside from movies, dramas and videogames, none of the boys had ever heard a gunshot before. They were paralyzed and frightened. They didn’t know where to look, what to say or what to do. 

Myriam’s eyes though, were unable to move from the phone. Paces were heard and then, the distinct shuffling of the phone being picked up. 

“If you kill her, I’ll make sure that’s the last mistake you made in your miserable life,” Myriam threatened in a very cold voice. 

She seemed controlled but Taehyung, being right next to her, noticed a small shaking in her hands as she squeezed her bracelet. 

“She’s as good as dead. Shouldn’t have taken what is rightfully ours,” responded the voice of a man before hanging up. 

A few seconds went by without anyone saying anything until:

“Jin,” Myriam called the eldest.

Jin jumped at the sound of the voice but looked at her. 

“I’m gonna need your photo printer.”

Her eyes were still glued to the phone. “I’m also going to need the biggest mirror in this house, some tape and your help with the location spell. Can you do that for me?”

Everyone gulped. 

She finally looked up. 

“Today if possible. Every second counts,” she added in a more pressing tone, standing up and rolling up her sleeves.

The trance broke, the boys stood hurriedly as well. The hyungs went looking for the mirror, the tape and the printer while the younger ones took from Myriam’s hands all the items she was retrieving from her purple backpack. 

_Does she always carry all that stuff around?_ , they wondered while working. They also noticed she didn’t have all the ingredients but those missing could easily be found in their kitchen. Jimin and Jungkook worked as quickly as they could to get the concoction ready. Tae approached Myriam and offered a hand to help with a second spell she was making. 

“This is not a location spell but I can use a hand,” she replied. 

On the spot, she started giving out instructions and Tae followed them to the dot. Jin was back with Yoongi and the printer. The witch left Tae for a moment, unlocked her phone, pulled up a picture of Charlie and asked Jin to print it. 

The boys were very surprised to finally put a face to the voice over the phone. She seemed older than them, white skin and pretty, short, red hair. She indeed looked nice. 

As Jin was finishing his task, in came Namjoon carrying the tape and Hobi holding a slim, full-body mirror. 

“Will this do?” Hobi asked. 

“Yeah. Very nicely. Thanks. Leave it over there.”

“Noona,” Jungkook called. “I think the location spell is ready.”

“I’ll be right there. Can any of you boys tape the photo to the mirror?”

“Where?” Namjoon asked.

“Upper part. It must be on the mirror, not on top though.”

Myriam inspected the location spell the youngsters made. Pretty good. She just adjusted it slightly and went on with the chanting. 

Like last time, the red flame appeared. She saw her friend and all that surrounded her. 

Bathroom. 

Gas station.

Near the southern border of Des Moines.

Myriam smiled slightly. Charlie was alive. 

“Noona?” Tae brought her back.

“Found her. She’s shot but she’s alive.” 

“What do we do now?” Jimin asked.

“Now…” Myriam answered as she took out a sharp looking knife and slashed her left hand. 

The movement was controlled and highly practiced but it took by surprise the impressionable young men. She squeezed the blood into the bowl Tae and her had been working on and then drew a piece of cloth from the bag, covering the cut in a flash. 

“W-wha…” Jin tried.

The witch moved fast through the chaos because next thing the boys knew she was drawing a sigil on the mirror with the bloody spell just below Charlie’s picture. 

“Noona, I-I’ll get the balm,” Tae ran to the kitchen.

“It’s ok Tae,” she mumbled but he was gone. 

“What now?” Jin asked a bit scared. 

“And now, the chant,” she commented before doing it.

Hobi and Jimin gasped as they saw the mirror rippling but as soon as the image steadied they found Charlie looking right at them. The photo, though, caught fire and began consuming itself like a match. 

“Charlie!” Myriam called out relieved. 

“Myriam,” the other breathed out. 

The redhead looked a bit paler than usual but was also glad to see her friend.

“How did you…” the redhead began saying. 

“Unimportant. The door in that bathroom is closed, right?” Myriam cut her off. 

“Yeah.”

“Where were you shot?”

“Uhm… h-here,” she showed the wound on her left side, near the end of the ribs.

“One or two holes?”

“Uhm… t-two,” Charlie struggled. 

“You are losing blood quickly. I’ll be there in a second.”

“O-ok. Uhm… hey boys. N-nice place you got,” she tried distracting the guys while Myriam went to retrieve her stuff as quickly as she could. 

She was running out of time. The photo was almost fully consumed. 

The witch didn’t realize when Tae had walked in again. He approached the mirror after looking at it. He saw the wound on Charlie. Maybe she needed the balm more than noona. 

He offered it.

His hand went through.

His eyes widened in fear. 

He felt a pull.

“TAEHYUNG-AH!!”

Was the last he heard.


	14. Chapter 14

Namjoon had seen it, first row. His eyes had been darting from the redhead in the mirror to their friend picking up her stuff. Jungkook and Jimin had hurried to help her with whatever they could. The others were a bit in shock but were looking at the youngsters as well. But he, he had seen it happen. 

Tae ran into the room and locked his eyes with Charlie. He had a very worried look so he walked fast towards the image. Charlie smiled sweetly at him, clearly trying to hold back her pain. Taehyung offered the pot with the balm out of instinct, probably forgetting for a second that the redhead wasn’t in the same room. 

The eldest looked astonished as Tae’s hand went through the mirror. Tae panicked as well as Namjoon. 

“TAEHYUNG-AH!!” he screamed.

In a blink, Tae was sucked, the photo was totally consumed and the sigil disappeared from the mirror. It was as if nothing had happened. 

Myriam dropped her bag and fell to her knees, speechless. 

“N-noona, do the spell again!” Jimin shook her to try to snap her out of the trance. “Noona! Noona!”

“I can’t,” she finally answered. “I’m sorry that spell I can only do it once every hour. I need that time to replenish myself.” 

Jimin was frantic, practically on the verge of tears. 

“What do you mean you can’t?! T-tell us how then a-a-and we will do it,” he insisted. 

“Noona, you can’t be serious, there must be a way,” Jin seconded. 

“NOONA!” Jimin screeched. “If you can’t do it I will! Just tell me how!”

“No,” Myriam sentenced.

“Noona, you must be kidding. We can’t leave Taehyung-ah over there. If we can do it then just tell us how,” Namjoon said in a less panicked voice but still urgent. 

“I won’t.”

“WHY?!” Jimin insisted. 

“I will not let you burn off your soul!” Myriam was unable to hold back. 

“Wh-what? What do you mean?” Jimin asked in a quieter voice. 

“This spell is very dangerous and requires a lot of power. We are talking about breaking the laws of space to connect two places that are very far away. Places that shouldn’t be anywhere close to each other. In order for you to be able to perform such a spell you would have to burn off a piece of your soul. I will not allow that!” she stated firmly. 

“So that means you…” Hobi couldn’t finish his question. 

“No, no,” she breathed out. “Due to my…mmm… heritage I'm able to work around that so my soul is intact but if you do it you would harm yours.”

“SO!?” Jimin’s desperate voice came out again. “Are we supposed to leave Taehyung-ssi all by himself over there!? We are supposed to do nothing for an hour?!”

“Jimin, I get it. I want him to return safely too but all we can do right now is wait,” she answered, putting her hands on Jimin’s shoulders. “Besides, Taehyung isn’t alone. Charlie will keep him safe. I'm sure of it.”

**_1 hour until the portal re-opens_ **

Somewhere in Des Moines Tae opened his eyes, grunting, yet, he wasn’t the only one to groan. He had landed on Charlie, which would explain his, somewhat, mitigated fall. 

“Oh, oh, I'm so sorry,” he said getting up. 

“I'm ok, don’t worry kiddo. I'm tougher than I look,” said the female as she sat up. 

The bleeding hadn’t stopped yet and her clothes were quickly changing color. Tae had never seen that amount of blood in his life. He was feeling a bit dizzy and light headed. Charlie couldn’t afford the young one passing out as well. 

“Hey, hey, hey, V right?”

Taehyung looked up from the wound and nodded slightly. 

“Or do you prefer Taehyung? Or maybe, Tae?” she kept going. 

“A-any of those is ok,” he answered in a small voice. 

“Wow, your English has really improved. You’re very fluent.”

“Mm? O-oh, n-no that’s not it,” he responded shyly. “This bracelet. It was a gift from noona. It’s a translator. Oh! That reminds me.”

The boy recovered the little pot with the balm and handed it to Charlie. It was what had gotten him into this mess after all. 

“Thanks,” she answered a bit dubious. 

“It’s a balm for cuts. Noona taught us how to make it. I-it should stop the bleeding.”

“Oh. Nice. Could you please open it for me?”

Tae did as she asked and even helped Charlie sit up a little straighter so she was able to apply the remedy to the holes. To both their surprise, the balm didn’t close the wound entirely but it did stop the bleeding. 

“It-it’s supposed to heal you,” Tae said a bit discouraged. 

“Perhaps the wound is too deep for the balm. But hey, I'm just happy I'm not leaking anymore,” Charlie responded with a smile. “Come on, we got to move. We’ve lingered here too long.”

“But, can you move? Shouldn’t you rest a little more.”

“I don’t think we have the time to do that. Well, me at least,” she paused. “You know what? Come with me.”

They got out of the bathroom, hoping to be scarcely noticed by anyone. Charlie walked fast and holding her duffle bag with all her might. Tae kept just a step behind her the whole time. 

“Um… n-noona, w-where are we going?”

Charlie didn’t answer straight away, she walked into a park, found a spot and sat down. The air was a little scarce in her lungs. 

“Noona?”

“I’ll live. Don’t worry,” she assured with a soft voice. “Can I use your phone?”

Tae nodded and patted himself down. His eyes grew as realization hit. He had left his phone on the table when he started helping Myriam with the spell. 

“Don’t have it on you?” Charlie scrunched her nose but didn’t scold him. “That’s ok. No worries. Sit.”

Silence. 

“We should probably go our separate ways from here,” she stated. 

“I’m not leaving you!”

“I kinda understand you but you need to understand too that this is dangerous. If that guy sees you around me, you could become a target. I'm sure you don’t want that and I would bet my Hermione funko that Myriam would totally freak out if you did.”

“I want to help.”

“I wonder why it’s taking her so long to come and get you,” Charlie kept going absentmindedly. 

“Y-you think I… ruined her spell?”

“Spell?”

“Yeah. She was making this spell and then slashed her hand, drew a symbol on the mirror and then… I touched it. I-I ruined it,” Tae lamented.

“She was doing a spell to use the mirror as a portal?”

“I think so.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. I thought it was just a communication spell and then you… landed on me,” Charlie said in a humorous way. 

“I think she was supposed to cross. Not me.”

“Well, I think you’re right about that but at least you got the medicine through.”

That didn’t make Taehyung feel any better. His lips pouted slightly. 

“Hey, hey, listen,” Charlie distracted him. “If she needs a mirror spell to pick you up again that means she’s gonna need you to stay close to one, right?”

“Yes,” Tae agreed. “But I'm not leaving you.”

Charlie sighed.

“Ok, ok, I get it but this is essential, so we need to find a place to hide that has mirrors. Come on.”

She stood and Taehyung followed. Just as they were walking out the park she noticed the car. Charlie realized it was too late to hide Tae now.

“Taehyung.”

“Mm?”

“When I say go, we start running, ok?”

“W-wh… ?”

“GO!”

**_50 minutes until the portal re-opens_ **

They had lost the car, for now. Huddled next to a trash bin in an alley, behind a pile of boxes. They struggled to catch their breath. 

“You ok there?” Charlie asked as she still looked out. 

“Uh-huh,” Tae panted. “Noona! Your wound!”

He panicked a bit.

“Oh, crap,” she said in a low voice as she inspected the front hole. 

It had popped open again. Not as wide but still could be dangerous to leave it unattended. That disregarding the fact that she had already lost quite an amount of blood that day. 

“Um… ok. No biggie, we can still work around this.”

“No!” Tae scolded as Charlie kept touching the wound with her dirty hands. “You need a doctor. We need to get you to a hospital.”

“Nah, I'm ok. I might just need to stitch it up,” her tone was a bit nervous. 

The youngster looked around and was able to distinguish the sign of a store. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would be able to get some bandages at least. He turned to Charlie and explained his idea. 

“Oh, that sounds like a plan. Ok, ok. Here,” she gave him a couple bucks. “That should cover it. Um, please hurry. I’ll keep out an eye, ok?”

“Ok.”

Tae ran to the convenience store and got in abruptly. The few people inside looked at him with frowns on their faces, especially the clerk. The boy noticed, bowed slightly as an apology and proceeded to look for the bandages quickly, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself. 

He paid. 

“E-excuse me?” he asked the clerk. “Bathroom?”

The guy rolled his eyes and signaled a door on the far, right corner. Tae rushed, washed his hands and was about to leave when he saw the car again. Out of reflex, he turned, crunched down and pretended to be looking for something else on the lowest shelf. He waited like that for what seemed an eternity until he thought it was safe. The car wasn’t there anymore but that didn’t mean it wasn’t close. He had to hurry. 

Cautiously, he looked out before he got out of the store and just ran to Charlie’s hideout. For a second he was afraid that the girl had ditched him but as he got closer he was able to make out Charlie’s red hair.

“Welcome back. Everything ok?” she said as soon as he sat next to her. 

“I saw the car.”

“Yeah, saw it too. I was happy to notice your good reflexes,” she congratulated. 

That brought out a small smile to Tae as he opened the jar and applied some more of the balm to Charlie. He felt a bit ashamed to be touching a girl like that but he understood the circumstances were a bit extraordinary. Then he opened two bandages and covered both holes carefully. At least that would stop the bleeding if the skin popped open again. 

“What now?” he asked. 

“Noooow, we need to go shopping.”

The hacker got up and led the way in the opposite direction they last saw the car. They walked fast.

**_40 minutes until the portal re-opens_ **

“Is the spell ready?” Jimin asked again. 

“Yeah, only the blood is missing but I got to put that last,” she looked up from the bowl straight at the impatient teen. “Otherwise it will dry out.”

“How could I let this happen?” Namjoon lamented in a low voice next to Jin. 

“I don’t know,” the eldest responded distractedly. 

None of the boys had been able to go to bed after what had happened. Hobi paced in front of the mirror, Yoongi scratched the side of his thumbs incessantly making them bleed, Jimin wouldn’t stop checking his cell phone to look at the time, Namjoon and Jin looked miserable and it was evident how guilty they felt for being unable to protect Taehyung. Jungkook, on the other hand, had been gone shortly after Myriam’s confession. He had locked himself in one of the bathrooms and hadn’t come out yet. 

“What if something bad happens?” the leader lamented further still in a quiet voice.

“Nothing bad is happening to Taehyung,” Myriam cut him short. “I told you, he is with Charlie. She will protect him with her life. Believe me. I know her.”

“But she’s hurt,” Namjoon pointed out.

“That has never stopped us before,” her sight was gone. “And pain has never stopped you guys before.”

“Yeah, but we’ve never been shot,” the words came out of Jin’s voice automatically. 

“True, and I intend to keep it that way, I promise you. Don’t worry, Tae is not shot and will not be,” Myriam assured. 

She paused a moment and inhaled deeply. 

“Look, I need to make a call. Will that be ok?”

The few of the boys that paid attention to her nodded. She took her phone and dialed. 

_\--English--_

“Very funny Dean. Is Sam there with you?”

That caught everyone’s attention. 

“Ok great. Uhm… Charlie is back.”

Pause.

“No, I don’t mean from Oz. I knew that already. No, no, she was in Europe and she’s back in the US right now.”

Pause again. 

“She was looking for something. She found it and now she’s got a bunch of gangsters on her tail. You need to help her out.”

Pause. 

“Last I saw her she was near the southern part of Des Moines. My money is on her still being around there.”

Pause.

“I, uhm, I-I… there was an issue.”

Pause. 

“Yeah, I'm ok don’t worry but one of my boys, he…” she struggled with the words. “Look, I need to recharge. I still got around forty minutes to go. Uhm, I just needed to give you a head start because I'm assuming that Charlie hasn’t been able to contact you yet.”

Pause.

“She lost her phone and she’s shot,” she blurted out. “I talked to her briefly and I'm also assuming she is better now but she still needs backup. How fast can you get to her?”

Pause.

“Ok. I guess that can work.”

Pause. 

“Oh! That’s right! He did. I actually know where all of them are. I remember insisting Bobby to buy more of those because they were quite handy.”

Quick pause. 

“Yeah! There are two. Look, as soon as I'm fit to do this again I’ll take care of it.”

Pause again. 

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll also let you know as soon as I know. Thank you.”

Pause. 

“What’s that? Oh, oh, no, no, no, that I can’t, no, no. I-I-I… no.”

Last pause. 

“Fine. See you there then.”

_\--Korean--_

“Cavalry is on its way,” she dared a small smile towards Namjoon and Jin.

“For real?” Hobi asked with surprise. 

“Yeah and they also gave me an idea. Back in the day Bobby owned a few cabins scattered around the US for hunters’ use. Not much but enough to lay low and take a break. When I learned about it I insisted he bought more of those. Some I even paid for under his name and Dean just reminded me of that. It should be safe,” she explained. “If I remember correctly, there are two cabins near Charlie. I just gotta pinpoint her exact location in order to guide her to the nearest one.”

Hope crawled into the faces of the other members until…

“But, how will you tell her? Like you said, she has no phone and Taehyung-ssi left his over here,” Jimin pointed out. 

“Once I'm able to open up the portal again I can tell her.”

“But weren’t you going over?” Jin asked. 

Myriam looked at Jin. 

“She can’t,” Namjoon reasoned. “If she goes, Taehyung-ah won't be able to come back.”

“But…” Hobi looked at him wide-eyed, “if Taehyung-ah comes back… How far away are Sam and Dean from Charlie?”

“With Dean behind the wheel?” Myriam paused to think about it. “Maybe three, three and a half hours at most.”

“That means Charlie would be wounded and on her own for, at least another hour if Taehyung-ah comes back?” Hobi reasoned. 

Myriam nodded. 

“But…” he almost whispered and then the words died on his lips. 

“You had already thought about this, hadn’t you?” Namjoon told her. 

She was only able to look at him for a second. 

Jimin felt a pang of guilt but this was Taehyung they were talking about. How could they leave him there?


	15. Chapter 15

**_35 minutes until de portal re-opens_ **

Myriam held her phone, reluctant. She really, really, really didn’t want to make this call but it was an emergency. Time was still ticking and she had to act fast. 

“Sorry guys,” I really need to make this call. 

“Why do you apologize? If it’s to help Taehyung then it’s fine,” Jimin blurted out.

He was right. She inhaled and swallowed her fears and pride. 

_\--English--_

“Hi. Um… I need to ask you something.”

Pause.

“Do you know who has had the Book of the Damned in their power?”

Pause.

“Do you know or not?”

Pause.

“Ok, ok, sorry. I-I'm sorry. It’s been a rough day,” she sighed. “Just,… please, if you know anything, answer the question.”

Pause. 

“That sounds fair.”

Really brief silence.

“W-w-w-w-wait. Give me a sec.”

She placed her phone on the table and shuffled in her bag until she got out pen and paper. Then she activated the speaker and everyone was able to listen the voice on the other side. 

“Ok, go.”

 _“That I know about there was the Caboto family from Geneva, the Du Ponts back in Denmark, couple of high witch covens around the world, the Styne family in Eastern Europe, the Li family from China, couple of mobsters, several cults in Western Europe and, surprise, surprise, even the Vatican, for a short time,”_ the voice was clearly male and with a British accent. 

For a moment there the guys were solely focusing on that voice while their friend took notes. 

_“Rumor has it that the book doesn’t stay long with one particular group of individuals. If, by any chance, you happen to stumble upon it in the near future, I would be very interested into spending some quality time with it.”_

“Have you changed your mind about the price then?”

_“This is more like a personal favor from… friend to friend.”_

“We are not friends,” she said in a low but clear voice. 

She was still writing down some stuff when the man changed subject. 

_“I’m aware of why you are looking for this thing but pray tell me, do Squirrel and Moose know?”_

She didn’t answer.

_“Are you with them right now? Can they hear me Little Lark?”_

Small pause.

_“Or are you with your kindergarten?”_

No answer still. 

_“Well, considering the lack of response, I’ll take it as an indicative that no one is recognizing my endearing nicknames. I think it’s safe to assume that you are, indeed, with the kindergarten. Hello boys, pleasure to meet you.”_

Myriam looked up in a flash and picked up the phone, deactivating the speaker on the process. 

“Listen very carefully,” she began with a threatening voice. “You do not talk to them, look at them or get anywhere near them, understood? I'm the one dealing, no one else is to be involved. Expect your payment tomorrow noon.” 

She hung up without a second though but the guys were unable to ask anything because she was already making a third phone call. 

“Dean!” 

The tone of her voice was completely different again. She sounded worried and in a hurry but endearing at the same time. 

“Tell me you guys are still in the bunker.”

Pause.

“Oh, perfect. Before you leave, would you be able to pick some files from the basement? I think I might have a lead on who is after Charlie.”

Pause.

“That’s irrelevant. Do you have somewhere to write it down? Ok so my contact said the book has been on the hands of several groups through time. Mentioned the Caboto family from Geneva, the Du Ponts back in Denmark, some covens, the Styne family in Eastern Europe, the Li family from China, some big mobsters, several cults in western Europe and even the Vatican. I know the covens, cults and mobsters are a huge area to research from so skip them.”

Pause.

“Oh because, by own experience I can tell you that if they don’t have it in their hands right now, the most probable thing is that they don’t exist anymore. Losing something as valuable as The Book of the Damned must have destroyed the aggrupation from the inside so, skip them. Vatican is also out of the question.”

Pause.

“Exactly. That leaves only the families and that is pretty doable, isn’t it?”

Last pause. 

“I’ll leave it to you guys. Thanks.”

_\--Korean--_

“Ok, what just happened?” Jin broke the silence. 

“That was Dean,” Myriam tried to dismiss. 

“No, no, no. That was the last call. Who was that guy that you threatened? The one with the British accent?” he insisted. 

“Do you really want to know?”

Namjoon gulped as well as Hobi. Jin’s lower lip quivered a second. Did he really need to know?

“This is all for Taehyung. I think the least we deserve are answers,” he finally stated.

“That was Crowley,” she said as if it was obvious.

“Who?”

“The King of Hell, isn’t he?” someone else answered.

Jungkook finally had come back to the common area. His eyes all poofy and just a bit red as well. Stress had manifested in different ways among the members but only the youngest had taken his away from the group. Myriam looked at him a bit ashamed. 

“Yeah, he is,” she confirmed.

“WHAT?! D-d-id you just sell y-y-our soul?! And how do you know that Jungkook?!” Jin was alarmed. 

“Relax. I didn’t sell my soul. I've been dealing with him for years and, if I may, I rather have him on the throne than any other demon. At least for the time being. What he asked was quite doable so I agreed. There’s nothing more to it,” she sentenced. 

“Noona told us. Back in LA she told us about Crowley and how they were attempting to cure him to close the Gates of Hell,” Jungkook elaborated. 

The older members seemed surprised at his good memory but they didn’t argue any more. This wasn’t the time to do so. Tae was the important thing now.

**_25 minutes until de portal re-opens_ **

Charlie had trusted Tae with her credit card and asked him to buy her a hoodie or sweater or just something in general to cover up her bloody shirt. She was getting too much unwanted attention. 

He was a bit taken aback by just how much she seemed to trust him but then again he thought the circumstances called for it. The thrift shop didn’t have too much to choose from. Most of it weren’t things he liked or would have liked to buy for the female but, like Charlie had pointed out, she only needed something dark and completely ordinary in order to blend in. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Therefore, he decided on a completely normal-looking, old, black jacket. It looked a lot like a hoodie but had a zipper on the front. Figured it could come in handy if the skin popped open again. He really hoped that wouldn’t happen but it seemed a bit difficult considering the car that was following them. 

“Is this ok?” he asked as soon as he got to Charlie. 

“Oh, that is perfect,” she replied putting it on.

It was a little big for her but it would do the trick. 

“Would have liked something a bit more fashionista,” she continued jokingly, “but I guess this is as close to Channel as I'm getting today.”

“You like Channel?” Tae was a bit impressed. 

“Honestly? Nah. All those huge brands and corporations always tend to stomp on so many in order to get their way. I don’t really like them,” she explained but continued after a pause. “Though they do make some pretty cool pieces from time to time. I like to watch. There’s no harm in that, right?”

Tae hadn’t thought about it.

“Hey, you hungry?”

“Hm? Oh, uhm… a bit yeah. Haven’t eaten since lunch,” he answered in all honestly.

“Yeah, me neither. Here, let’s get a bite. We still got some time. What would you like?”

Tae’s face lit up with a huge smile. 

“HAMBURGER!”

“Ok, ok, I hear you. Burger it is.”

They walked around for a few minutes until they found a decent looking place. They were tempted to stay in there but Charlie advised not to tempt their luck so the asked the food to go. Then, the redhead found a nice spot hidden by the bushes but with a good look at the main road. If it weren’t for the fact that they were being followed, this would actually feel like a nice picnic. 

The food smelled really good so the dived right into it. When they were about half way into it Charlie broke the silence. 

“I’m sorry for the scary experience.”

Tae looked at her.

“Oh, no, no. Don’t worry. I'm not scared.”

“Yeah sure,” Charlie scoffed. 

“For real.”

“Well, then you are better than I was.”

That caught Tae’s attention.

“I was absolutely terrified my first time,” she paused. “Scratch that, I'm still scared whenever I begin a new job.”

“You are?”

Charlie nodded with a smile. 

“I still remember my first time. I used to work at this big company, RRE. Everything was good. The pay, the work hours, the internet and theeeen I found out that my boss is the leader of the leviathans. He almost ate me after he saw me. With the Winchester’s help I went into hiding and didn’t come out until I learned that RRE was bankrupt after their CEO had died. I owe it to Sam and Dean being here today.”

Tae’s eyes were still fixed on her. If he was honest with himself, he was really scared. Not only was he alone in another continent but now he was being tracked down by a man with a gun too. He had no phone, no staff members, no bodyguards, no one he knew around. No one but this skinny redhead who had been shot. Terrifying indeed.

Yet Charlie managed to smile through this whole thing to keep him calm and he would be damned if it wasn’t working. He knew that his noona would come and help him and he knew that the others would be really worried about him. Somehow, he felt a bit better while thinking that. 

“Hey, changing topics,” she said enthusiastically. “I gotta ask. What does it feel being an idol?”

Tae looked at her dumbfounded for a second before swallowing the last of his burger. 

“It’s…” he struggled to find the right words. “It’s hard. We work very hard, we practice a lot and we try to improve our skill but, it’s hard. We thought after our debut things would be easier but they’re not.”

He found himself looking down, thinking about everything they had to do to be where they were now. They had surely made progress but, at what cost?

“At least you’re together,” Charlie suddenly commented.

“Hm?”

“Your know, you seven. I know that there is a big team behind you guys as well but, in the end it comes down to you seven onstage, doesn’t it? You’re the ones under the spotlight.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Things would definitely be different without any of my hyungs of Jungkookie. I'm happy to at least be able to share a lot of stuff with them.”

“They mean a lot to you, don’t they?”

“Yeah,” he smiled eagerly. “They are my best friends.”

**_15 minutes until de portal re-opens_ **

“Are you really not telling us what you promised the King of Hell?” Jin still insisted. 

“I’m really not telling you Jin,” Myriam responded back for the umpteenth time.

“Ya! Myriam! How can we not worry if you don’t tell us?”

“Just know that it was the best I could do for Taehyung and that it is within my possibilities to pay the price. Don’t worry.”

“How can you still be doing demon deals at this point of your life? After everything that has happened why do you keep doing that?” the eldest kept saying.

“Not sure I would still call them demon deals, there is no binding contract but we’ve learned to work along. I still don’t trust him, not fully and doing so would definitely be a mistake. I do trust his information though. He was telling the truth about it all, like I've told you I just know when people lie. It’s like I'm a walking talking lie detector. It’s not always fun though.”

Namjoon had taken Hobi’s place in front of the mirror, arms crossed, still thinking about a lot of things that could potentially go wrong when Myriam did the spell again. Therefore, he was barely paying attention to the word exchange at the table. 

“Noona,” his voice caught everyone’s attention. “Why did you need that list of owners?”

“Ah. I thought that if we knew beforehand who could possibly be after Charlie, we could save us the tragedy of walking into a trap. At the very least know the kind of people we are dealing with,” she explained. “Not that I would expect that the handlers of the Book of the Damned are good people but it doesn’t hurt to know and be prepared.”

Namjoon nodded in understanding. 

“Wh-what list?” Jungkook asked.

He had curled up in a corner and Hobi had gone to his side to try and comfort him by patting him lightly on his back.

Myriam sighed but explained as well.

“I called Crowley to ask for previous owners, or handlers, however you want to call them, of the book. I thought that it would be good to know what kind of people we could be dealing with. He told me that the book has been in the hands of covens, cults, occult families and even some mafia groups. I just passed down that information to Sam and Dean. If these families have been active in the last thousand years, the Men of Letters have a file on them for sure.”

“That’s how good they are?” Namjoon said a bit teasingly.

“I guess,” Myriam dared a smile. 

“Occult families?” Jungkook asked again. 

“Mm-hm. Families that consist mostly or completely of magic practitioners either for good or bad. I guess it makes sense that the book has been in possession of these people since occult families tend to be very rich and powerful within their communities. Sometimes their reach goes as far as high places within their country’s government and in some very counted occasions, they go as far as having an international grip. But these families or groups are very rare. Not that I know a lot about them but I hear the rumors.”

“Aigo, how could you possibly not know?” Hobi asked genuinely curious and just a bit frustrated.

“I… I tried to keep my distance from the supernatural community since the late 1700’s. Except for Uncle and a couple other friendships I made prior to this time, I stayed away as much as I could. So a lot of what happened in the community since that time is a bit of a mystery to me.”

“Why would you want to stay away?” Jin asked.

“I had my reasons. Though, if I think about it correctly, staying away might sound a bit wrong. I guess you can say I remained within one particular ghetto for an extended period of time. It was quite refreshing,” she answered. 

“Refreshing?” Hobi added in confusion. 

“Well, I became close to a certain group of pagan gods and I stayed with them for quite a while. It was refreshing to be with a group of beings that don’t age and don’t die easily like me. I still keep in contact with them.”

Namjoon, Hobi and Jin thought about this for a moment. They had focused so much into the losses Myriam had told them about within the last few years, that they hadn’t really processed the fact that, due to her immortality, she had had to watch every person she got to know, die. She would even have to watch them grow old and die too. That was a sad thought. 

Jimin listened too but couldn’t concentrate for too long on what she just said. Jungkook was in a similar state of mind but still gave it a moment to sink in. 

Yoongi, on the other hand, had been mute this whole time. His mind was rushing almost as much as Namjoon’s but he just couldn’t articulate a word, he was way too nervous. He had also considered doing the same thing as Jungkook for a brief moment but being the second oldest he discarded the idea. He had to be strong for the younger ones so he did the next best thing he could for the others: stay completely still and quiet. He knew the time was approaching. Everything would be over soon. 

**_5 minutes until de portal re-opens_ **

In the last 20 minutes, Tae and Charlie had almost made it to the next gas station. They had followed the road from the bushes on the side. Since there was only the one road and nothing else around, better be safe in the small amount of nature that still grew there.

None of them had seen the car so far so they felt relatively safe. Plus, last time they had the chance to check, it was almost time for Myriam to try the spell again. They had to hurry to the gas station if they wanted to reach a mirror. Charlie already knew the outcome. She would have to run for a while longer before her friend finally reached her and there was still the matter of calling the Winchesters. She hadn’t had the time to do it and she wondered if Myriam did it for her. Knowing her friend as she did, Myriam probably had. She was quite efficient.

“So, what’s the first thing you’ll do when you get home?” she asked. 

“Uhm, I think,” Tae though for a second, “I’ll take a shower.”

He laughed lightly.

“Ugh, that sounds so nice. I think I'm gonna do the same. And a nap later, we’ve earn it, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” he answered still happy. 

“Oh, look,” Charlie pointed out. “There’s the sign. We are close now. I think it’s safe to go on the road. It’ll be easier to run on the pavement.”

Taehyung nodded and followed the redhead closely. They picked up the pace and watched the gas station get closer and closer. They were almost there. Charlie noticed the almost abandoned look of the place and concluded that if they covered up properly, the cameras wouldn’t even be able to catch their faces when they got in the bathroom. That was a relief. 

She signaled the young boy to put on his hoodie just like her and they walked right into the restrooms without even looking inside the convenience store. Just like last time, Charlie checked the lady’s room first, she signaled Tae to come in once she determined it was empty and then locked the door behind him. 

They only had to wait a minute or so more and then, just like last time, the mirror rippled and a second later, instead of seeing their reflections they were able to see the others looking back them all the way from Korea. 

“Hi strangers,” Charlie was the first to speak doing the Vulcan hand sign. 

“TAEHYUNG-AH!” Jimin exclaimed and pushed Myriam a bit. 

“Jiminie!” Taehyung responded back. 

“Wow, I was completely ignored,” Charlie joked. 

“Oh, I'm sorry. Guys, Charlie here is the best. She’s been taking care of me since I got here,” Tae commented. 

“Weeell, to be fair I would say that we have been taking care of one another,” Charlie added. “He’s a really good boy.”

“We were worried sick,” Namjoon said. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“Huh?” Tae was truly surprised.

“Come on, there’s not much time. Come back,” Jimin half begged, half ordered.

“I thought noona was coming here. Charlie still needs help,” Tae admitted. 

“Charlie, since you are close to Route 35 you should use that until you get to St. Patrick’s Church. Turn left there and follow the path until you find the cabin number 1209. It’s not much but it should be enough to gather some strength.”

“What?” Tae was confused before he realized what was happening. “No, I'm not leaving. Noona, come over.”

“Taehyung, this is not a game. Please come back,” Namjoon instructed a bit more pressing. 

“No! Leaving Charlie isn’t right!” he insisted. 

“Don’t worry kiddo. I can take care of myself for another hour. I'm tougher than I look. Listen to them, they’re very worried,” Charlie said. 

“No,” Tae refuted in a squeaky tone. 

“Kim Taehyung…” Myriam began but was cut short by a bang at the door. 

It started with just one pang but it soon became a continuous banging along with the clear sound of the doorknob being moved up and down. Evidently someone was trying to get in by force. 

“Noona,” Taehyung called out silently. 

Charlie had unsheathed the small katana she carried around and placed the youngster behind her. The other members tensed up, their hearts were racing faster with each bang. The photo was almost fully consumed. Namjoon and Jin turned around to look for Myriam who had left the mirror’s side a couple of seconds before. Their eyes opened wide as they saw her pull out a gun from her purple backpack and put the clip in the magazine. 

“Go to bed,” she ordered as she took both her bag and the gun and went through the mirror. 

Silence fell on the apartment like a knife.


	16. Chapter 16

Myriam landed in a crouched position next to Charlie. The banging in the door was intense and relentless. 

"Hey Babygirl. That took you long enough," Charlie smiled.

Myriam nudged her head. 

"Stand over there," the witch instructed signaling the bathroom booth. 

The redhead follow her instructions and, with Tae behind her, she positioned herself. Myriam was ready. She remained in a kneeling position, aiming low, unmoving, so by the time the door lock gave in, she shot without hesitation. 

The perpetrator was a bulky man with white hair on his beard and little, next to no hair, on his head. Myriam had pierced his leg, below the knee and he was squealing as well as cursing her for it. 

"GO!" she instructed.

Charlie held Tae's hand and made a run for it. Myriam followed close behind and only stopped to shoot the guy on the other leg as well. She wasn't risking this one to follow them. 

The next thing was to find transportation and the redhead had already locked eyes on the guy's car. She begged for the machine to be open but, to their surprise, it wasn't.

"Move," the witch instructed. " _Aperio._ "

Tae marveled as the car doors flew open with the simple command and was further surprised when he heard the next spell.

" _Ini._ "

That was it, but it was enough to start the car. Both the boy and Charlie were on the backseat while Myriam began driving away apparently knowing exactly where she was going. For a while, there was silence in the car, but the ones on the back couldn't keep it that way for too long. 

"You shot that guy," Tae's voice was soft and just a tiny bit scared. 

"I did," she confirmed. "Are you two ok?"

"Yup, you got here right on time," Charlie chirped in. 

"Well, that's a first," Myriam responded a bit darkly. "Oh! By the way, call them. They're all very worried."

She handed her phone to the Korean. He took a moment to choose who he was calling even though experience told him the call was going to be put on speaker almost immediately. He made up his mind and clicked the name.

The tone had barely rung twice when Yoongi's husky voice answered.

"Hyung, I'm fine," Tae said as a greeting.

Pause, and he laughed lightly. 

"Don't worry, like I said before, Charlie-noona looked after me. I'm really fine. And now Myriam-noona is here too so, we're good."

Pause.

"I'm sorry for making you all worry. Please tell Jiminie and Hobi-hyung that I'll be back soon."

Pause. 

"What is Jin-hyung saying?" he asked very confused. 

Pause.

"Ah," he said in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry. I really am."

Pause. 

"Ok," he lowered his head. "Bye."

He hung up and sighed as he laid all the way back on the seat. For a moment there he felt relieved that Yoongi hadn't activated the speaker. He had been so certain but, apparently, the older member thought it best not to do so. That left Yoongi being everyone's middle man and Tae was absolutely certain that he hadn't communicated all the messages from Korea all the way to the US. He already felt in so much trouble. 

Myriam looked at him from the rear mirror and Charlie from the side. 

"Hey, I'm sure they'll forgive you," Charlie commented. 

"That's not the problem," he answered. "I've caused a lot of trouble to a lot of people. They are right to be angry but I didn't want to make anyone cry."

"Someone cried?" Charlie asked taken aback.

"Mm," he nodded. 

He looked as ashamed and sad as when Charlie had first encountered him. 

"Well, there's not much you can do now about that. It is what it is. Better own it than letting you be crushed by the guilt. You are fine and I'm fine and now Myriam is taking us..." the redhead trailed off. "Where are we going by the way?"

"Safe house," the other female responded.

"Oh, that's right," Charlie suddenly remembered. 

"Is it the bunker?" Tae wondered a bit less sad.

"Hehe, no. Unfortunately we don't have time to go to the bunker today. I promise I'll take you there one of this days Taetae but for today we're just going to a cabin Bobby used to own. Don't expect anything fancy. It's really basic but should be enough to hide until the Winchesters reach us."

"The Winchesters are coming?" his interest was piqued again. 

"Yup. Figured you guys weren't able to call them so I alerted them a while ago."

"I'm going to finally meet them?" he sounded like one of BTS' fanboys now.

"Mmm... I wouldn't really count on it. I hope to send you home in an hour. They're probably getting here in around three more hours so, not today."

"But... I mean, I'm already here. If we are going to be safe now, can't I wait a bit longer?"

"And keep everyone else up waiting for you?"

He had forgotten about that detail. He felt guilty again. How could he expect to make his hyungs worry for longer than they already had? He was sure that they would probably be unable to sleep with him gone or at least some of them. Tae knew Myriam was right. He would have to wait until next time. It was frustrating. 

Myriam drove fast, just like he liked. He watched through the window as the scenery moved outside. He even noticed a church and a cemetery. If he remembered correctly, the cabin shouldn't be that far away then. 

Tae noticed the small bushes change into woods as they kept moving through the dirt path. It was actually a pretty nice place, under different circumstances, he would love to make a trip to a similar place with the others. 

Cabins were scattered and far from one another. He almost felt as if he was in the middle of nowhere but, awkwardly, he felt safe. He was with Myriam-noona and Charlie-noona after all. Such was his state of mind that he began feeling the tension leaving his body and sleepiness crawl in. 

As Myriam had told them, they arrived at a small wood cabin soon enough. It looked old and almost abandoned which figured considering that it was seldom used. It seemed as it had rained recently because the wood was still a bit humid. The tall trees surrounding it made it a bit hard for the sun to fully reach the construction but it still looked cozy.

"You should go in. I'll bring some wood for the chimney," Myriam told the pair in a soft voice. 

"Is it open?" Charlie asked. 

"Oh! That's right. _Aperio_."

"Wow, noona just sounded like real witch," Tae said with stars in his eyes.

"See! I'm not the only one to think so," Charlie told her friend.

Myriam smiled. 

"Ok, ok, you win this time. Get in already. I'll check your wound as soon as I can."

"Roger that," Charlie responded with a military salute. 

The pair walked in and were welcomed by the strong scent of pinewood and just a small, lingering smell of tobacco. There were books all over the living room's table, there was a small kitchenette and a single bedroom in the back. They guessed the bathroom door was in the bedroom as well. Like Myriam said it wasn't much but enough to lay low for some time. 

"Would you like to shower first?" Charlie asked.

"Wha... no no. You go ahead. Clean your wound. I'll wait."

Charlie nodded and went ahead. Tae sat on the old couch. He was finally feeling truly tired and he fought with his eyelids to remain awake. It was useless. 

The witch walked in to see the boy curled up on the couch, soundly asleep. She smiled and covered him up with a blanket before starting the fire.

"Ok, buddy. You're up," Charlie said coming out of the bedroom with a towel over her head.

"Shh," Myriam hurried to gesture her. 

"Aww, isn't he cute?" the redhead replied in a quieter voice.

"Yeah. Now let's check out your wound."

Both females got in the bedroom, closing the door behind them and sat on the bed. Charlie uncovered her wound and Myriam began to work. 

"Is everything going to be ok?" Charlie wondered.

"I think so. He is tougher than he looks. Don't worry."

"I mean, the other members sound like good people and all but, will they be ok too?"  
Myriam took a moment to think about it. 

"This was really unexpected to everyone so I think that was the main problem. I believe that if anything like this happens ever again, it might not be as bad."

"So, you're counting on things like this to happen again?"

"I wouldn't want those things to happen but at this rate, I think it is a realistic assumption. Better be prepared than sorry."

"Gotcha. Are you waking him up? It's almost time."

Myriam sighed.

"Don't know. He's really tired. Perhaps..." she bit her lower lip. "Give me a sec."

Myriam walked out of the bedroom and tiptoed out of the cabin with her phone on her hand. 

_\--Korean--_

"Hey. I see you're still up. Who else is with you?"

 _"Pretty much everyone,"_ Namjoon answered.

"So you didn't listen to me, huh?" she teased. "Taetae is fine. He is deeply asleep right now."

 _"Huh? That makes one of us then,"_ he responded. 

"Am I on speaker?"

_"You are now."_

"Ok, good. Guys, we're safe now. Don't worry. Go to bed, for real. You will be really busy tomorrow and you will need your strength."

 _"But..."_ Jimin tried to refute.

"Jiminie, it's ok. I'm here now. Promise I'll send him back as soon as he wakes up and takes a shower. Can you trust me?"

The guys looked at each other for a second. Pondering their answer. Could they trust her? They trusted her for so much in their lives, was this that much different? Besides, didn’t she always tell the truth?

 _"Ok,"_ Jimin finally answered. _"I'll trust you. Just one question though. Do you always carry that thing around?"_

"Oh, you mean the gun? Heh, that's an interesting answer. Promise I'll tell you when I go back. It will be easier to just show you. Deal?"

 _"Ok,"_ he sounded a bit disappointed.

She hung up after listening to everyone's good night and walked back inside. Charlie was still in the bedroom, checking out a bunch of papers. 

"You should be resting too," Myriam told her.

"Nah, I'm good. I'm still trying to figure this out." 

"Need help then?"

"Sure," she patted a space on the bed next to her.

The notes were easy to translate and as minutes went by Myriam began to feel restless about using this thing. Even if it was to help Dean, was it worth all the possible trouble it would cause? Yet, this was Dean they were talking about, what choice did they have? As she pondered this Charlie asked abruptly. 

"So you haven't told them?"

"Hm?"

"About...you know...you?"

"Oh, that. No."

"Are you going to?"

"Not if I can help it."

Charlie sighed. 

"I really think you should. It would make thing easier, you know."

"I'm not sure about that."

"Not sure? Girl, you're opening portals to move back and forward when it would be way easier to just..."

"Charlie," Myriam cut her friend short. "You know why I can't do that."

"Can't or won't?"

Myriam lowered her head and began fidgeting with her tesbih.

"Myriam, as your friend I think you really need to hear this: it's a gift, a gift that can help a lot of people. You should stop blaming yourself for the past and just embrace it. I'm sure that when you do you'll find out you actually love it."

Myriam was silent for a moment.

"What if I can't control it? What if it happens all over again?"

"That is your problem. You keep thinking that way and you do nothing to actually change anything. All you need is a good teacher and tons of practice."

"And who's gonna teach me, huh? What if I try to control it on my own and it all goes wrong?"

Charlie sighed. They were going in circles and she knew there was no way of bringing Myriam out of it once she was in this state of mind. 

"It was just an idea," Charlie concluded and went back to the notes.

The air now tense between the two made it a bit uncomfortable to focus properly for either of the two. Therefore, Myriam was the first to give in. 

“I need to go to the kitchen. Be right back.”

Charlie nodded and kept working. 

Myriam on the other hand, retrieved her backpack from the couch and began working on a potion she knew would come in handy soon enough. She worked as silently as she could so she wouldn’t disrupt the young boy’s sleep. Before she knew it, the potion was not only done but she could hear a very familiar engine approach the cabin. She was so surprised that they were here already and couldn’t help but smile as she saw that black beauty get closer and closer. 

It was amazing, Taehyung’s wish was really coming true. Lucky him. Myriam pondered for a second if she should wake him up or not. He looked comfy and cute but she was sure he would hold it over her for the rest of his life if she didn’t wake him. 

The witch walked fast towards the bedroom.

“They’re here,” she announced in a silent voice to Charlie. 

The redhead jumped up the bed and followed her out of the cabin. They waited until the Impala had parked and the guys got out. 

“Hey,” Dean greeted them. 

Myriam was excited but she managed to make a silence sign towards the brothers. They were a bit confused but complied with a smile on their faces. She approached them, hugged Sam and then Dean with such strength. They hadn’t seen each other in a while, it seemed like ages. 

“Ok, so, why all the mystery?” Dean finally asked.

“There is someone inside who is dying to meet you guys. Can you give me a minute before you come in?”

“It’s not Becky, is it?” Dean asked with a completely straight face. 

“What? No,” Myriam assured as if the question offended her. “Ok wait outside the door. Please.”

She rushed back in and left the door just a tiny bit cracked open. With great care, she kneeled in front of Taehyung until their faces were on the same level. She caressed his hair softly as she spoke. 

“Hey, Taetae, wake up. Wake up.”

“Hmm,” was Tae’s response. 

“Come on, wake up. I need to show you something. Come on.”

Myriam shook him a bit and his eyes finally opened up. 

“Noona?” he said with a raspy voice. 

The lack of a goodnight’s sleep was evident but he was kind of used to it by now. 

“Come on, sit up.”

She helped him sit up as the poor boy yawned and rubbed his eyes. He tried adjusting to the light again as he remembered the situation he was in. That thought helped him get into a more alert state but Myriam’s calm voice didn’t help him reach the same level of tension as before. 

“What time is it noona?”

“For you? It might still feel too early don’t worry, you’re still on time.”

“On time?”

“Yeah. The others are still in bed, the alarm hasn’t gone off yet but I thought you might want to be awake for this.”

“Hm?” he was still confused. 

He looked so cute. 

“Ok, here goes.”

She stood up and went to the door. Tae tried following her with the eyes but he felt so tired. His eyelids wouldn’t obey him entirely but he was quite intrigued now. He was in the middle of a new yawn when Myriam opened the door. His eyes opened like plates and his shock was such, that his mouth opened and closed on its own accord. 

There, standing right in front of him were two of the tallest men he had seen. Although their clothes looked worn, their shoes had seen better day and their eyes were a bit clouded by a shadow of loss, they smiled at him. They seemed honestly happy to see him, to meet him. He could barely believe it, the real Winchesters were there.

The shorter of the men approached him and offered his hand. 

“Hi,” he said in his husky voice. “I’m Dean Winchester. This is my brother Sam.”

“I-I-I’m Kim Taehyung,” was all he could say.


	17. Chapter 17

Taehyung finally stood up but couldn't let go of Dean's hand. His mind had gone completely blank and all he could do was hold on for dear life. Dean was liking this far too much and he was barely able to hide his smile. This baby-faced young man was simply too much.

Sam was enjoying this too but he cleared his throat as to acknowledge his presence there as well. It did the trick. Tae's eyes drifted towards the even taller man and his mouth formed that adorable, heart-shaped, boxy smile of his. He let go of Dean's hand and offered it to Sam. As the younger Winchester took it, Tae simply bowed his head.

Charlie and Myriam waited patiently as they saw the beautiful scene. Better yet, the redhead had the marvelous idea of recording the whole thing. She smiled conspicuously towards the witch.

"You're totally sending me this, aren't you?" the witch whispered.

"Of course I am, who do you take me for?"

They giggled.

"So," Dean boomed as he clapped his hands, "what brings you so far away from home?"

There was no reproach in his voice, just curiosity but Taehyung slouched a bit. He let go of Sam's hand and his eyes were unable to meet their eyes anymore.

"Um... th-that... it was an accident. I'm sorry."

"Uh-huh," Dean answered. "Well, we all make mistakes kiddo. In your case, it wasn't that bad. Don't worry."

"But, I made it hard for noona and Charlie and my hyungs and Jungkookie. I was selfish."

"Selfish?" Dean sounded perplexed.

"Taetae, come here, sit," Myriam told him softly.

He obeyed as the older ones rounded him up.

"Why did you touch the mirror?" she asked. 

"Mirror?" Sam wondered out loud.

"I opened a portal to get to Charlie by connecting two mirrors but didn't cross because Tae went through first. It only works for one person per spell so it obviously closed behind him," she explained.

The Winchesters made an understanding gesture and turned to the Korean.

"Well... that is... because she looked hurt. I wanted to give her the healing balm."

"So you touched something you weren't meant to touch to give this one something for the pain?" Dean recounted.

Tae nodded.

"Had you met before today?" Sam asked in his soft voice.

"No, we hadn’t," Charlie answered in a flash.

"So, you were trying to help someone you'd never met before in your life by doing something dumb," Dean summarized again. "That doesn't sound selfish to me? Kid, you did the right thing. Stupid, I agree, but not selfish."

The older brother patted Taehyung on the head. It kind of made the young one feel better. He had indeed caused trouble but he didn't do it with malicious intentions. Perhaps, Dean was right. He hoped the others felt the same way.

"Myriam told us you guys are doing pretty well," Sam changed the subject.

"Huh? Noona told you about us?"

"Of course," Dean huffed.

Tae smiled again.

"We are working very hard. The tour was extended and we even got some dates here in the USA," he sounded happy and proud of themselves.

"Wait, wait, wait. You're extending the tour? When did I miss the announcement?" Charlie squealed.

"Oh, you haven't. It will be announced soon but,... does that mean you would...mmm... buy a ticket?" Tae was fairly surprised.

"Of course! I've been listening to this one talk so much about you guys that she's left me no choice but to actually see one of your performances live," Charlie joked only half lying.

"Ah! I may be able to get you a ticket. When I go back I'll ask," Tae responded enthusiastically. "Would you like tickets too?"

"You know what?" Dean said. "That sounds awesome."

"Dean," Sam interceded in a sarcastic tone, "You don't even listen to their music."

"So? This is part of the new me. Asian music? I say bring it on," Dean assured.

The girls and Sam sniggerd as they looked at the older Winchester.

"Besides, how can you say no to this face?" Dean continued as he side hugged Tae.

The young one responded the hug and beamed a beautiful smile.

"I'll make sure to get you those tickets," he promised.

"We'll look forward to it," Dean said as he let go of the Korean. "So, can we see it?"

"Oh, right. Be right back," Charlie scuttled to the bedroom and came back with a wrapped bundle.

Everyone was curious. Not even Myriam had seen it. She had limited herself to the notes and had restrained herself with actually touching the thing after reading them.

Tae was very curious. He hadn't seen the thing either and could only imagine what the book would look like. He wondered if it would resemble one of Myriam's grimoires or a prop for a horror movie. Then again, what were the props but things based on reality. He waited with a lot of enthusiasm.

The Winchesters were no better. Dean could almost savor his freedom and had made plans for when the mark was finally off his arm. There were so many things he had missed in his life and was ready to give them all a try. Sam was just happy to have found something that would help his brother.

That way, when Charlie uncovered the Book of the Damned they were all lost for words for a moment.

"Okay, here’s what we've learned so far. About 700 years ago, a nun locked herself away after having visions of darkness. After a few decades squirrelled away by herself, she emerged with this. Each page is made out of slices of her own skin written in her blood," Charlie began explaining. "There’s a spell inside that thing for everything. Talking some black mass, dark magic, end-of-times nastiness."

“That sounds… horrible,” Tae said first making a face.

Sam took the book in his hands but Myriam noticed Dean stiffen up. He had his eyes lost in the horrid thing and it surprised her when the older man took it from Sam. 

“Dean?” Sam called out.

There was no response. Then Dean began walking to the kitchen, shifting through the pages. 

“Dean-nim?” Taehyung tried. 

Dean seemed entranced by the book. 

“Dean,” Sam said more urgently. “Dean!”

Finally the older one responded, looking up from the pages and realizing where he has, what had happened. The other four exchanged glances of worry at each other.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea that I touch this,” Dean finally said as he returned the book to Charlie. “I’ll go get the rest of our crap.”

Resolute and with a fake smile, he walked out of the cabin.

“What the hell was that?” Charlie demanded to Sam in a hushed voice.

“He’s not getting better. He’s trying to cover but, we need to find that cure, fast,” was his answer. 

He had a face of ultimate sadness now and Tae could barely keep it together. He had just met them and he wanted the others to have the same chance too. Out of pure impulse, he went after Dean. He found the older Winchester exhaling deeply as he was leaning on the hood of the Impala. 

“Dean-nim can I help you?”

“Sorry?”

“To, uhm, bring the things.”

Dean analyzed this young boy. He looked like a lost puppy at that moment but his voice was really concerned. He definitely fitted into the way Myriam had described him in the past. He didn’t want to see him involved in all this mess but it was clear that now that Tae was here it would be difficult to maintain it that way. Myriam had done a good job at keeping them at bay for this long but she could only do so much now. 

“Sure,” he finally answered and opened the Impala. “By the way, where did you guys get that?”

He signaled to the stolen car.

“Ah, that. We took it from the guy that almost caught us at the gas station.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Someone actually caught up with you guys.”

“Yeah. Charlie-noona and I were trapped in the bathroom but Myriam-noona saved us. The portal opened just in time and she came through. I'm happy I didn’t leave,” Tae recounted. 

“Leave?”

“Well, Myriam-noona had opened the portal so that I could go back to Korea but I sort of felt that wrong. It wouldn’t have been right to leave Charlie-noona all by herself, wounded and with someone following her. So I sort of argued with my hyungs and that was around the time this guy started pounding on the door trying to come in,” he paused. “Honestly, I was really scared but felt better when I saw Myriam-noona finally coming through. She stopped the bad guy and we took his car.”

“Did she double-tap?”

“Oh yeah! She shot both his legs.”

“Legs? You mean…? Never mind.”

Tae noticed that little pause so he responded with a question of his own. A bit scared of the answer to be honest. 

“Was she supposed to… mmm… kill him?”

Dean sighed.

“Well, I think that would have been the smartest thing to do but anyways. The important thing is you are all here, safe and sound so, that’s that,” Dean brushed off.

They got back in the cabin, each of them carrying a box of books and papers. 

“So, this is everything the Men of Letters had on the occult families that you told us about plus a couple others, just in case your source left out anything,” Dean said as he placed his box on the low table. 

“How did you…” Charlie began.

All eyes fell on her. 

“What’s that?” Dean pushed a bit. 

“I mean, I'm pretty sure I didn’t mention anything about a family following me so, how did you know?” Charlie formulated. 

“I asked a bit and eliminated some of the options,” Myriam answered. “I didn’t want to be taken by surprise by those guys but I guess things didn’t go exactly as planned.”

“You are something else,” Charlie told her friend. 

“Thanks.”

“Ok, so, I got a pretty good look at the tattoo they had. I’ll draw it for you,” the redhead turned to Dean. “Sam, got anything?”

Tae placed his box next to Dean’s and looked at Sam on the bed, going through the pages of the book. It creeped him out a bit to think the other man was actually touching that thing (considering they all knew what the pages were made of). On the other hand, it fascinated him that this sort of things were actually real and he even felt like a character from those horror series and movies he so much liked. The only difference was that instead of dubious and frightened, surrounded by all this people, he felt safe, truly safe. 

“Uh, nothing yet but I think it’s a bit too soon to say anything yet,” he replied. 

“Ok. I’ll leave you to do that, I got homework myself,” Charlie said. 

“Can I help?” Tae looked at them.

“I think you should probably rest a bit more. The others’ alarm will go off soon enough and you boys have quite a schedule today,” Myriam tried to dissuade him. 

“I'm not that tired,” Tae retorted but his body betrayed him by making him yawn. 

Dean smiled. His big-brother-mode was turned on.

“I think you are kiddo. Listen to her, your other friends are relying on you to have rested so you can all do a good job.”

“But…, it’ll be worse. My sleep has already been interrupted, I’ll only feel more tired if I go to bed again.”

To everyone it did make sense what Taehyung had just said and it was evident that he wasn’t giving up this chance. 

“Fine then. Help me check the files,” Dean gave in. 

Tae was so happy that he gave tiny jumps with a smile on his face. Then he proceeded to sit on the floor right next to Dean’s legs. 

“Wouldn’t you prefer to sit on the couch?” Dean observed. 

“Nah, I like the ground,” the young one assured. 

“Ok, knock yourself out.”

Dean stretched to take the first file from the box and started reading. Tae did the same but, as soon as he opened the dossier, he realized one, tiny, itty, bitty detail.

“Uhm… noona?”

Myriam looked up from the notes she had been making. Seeing Taehyung it clicked her and she snorted. 

“Hold on.”

She got up from her place and shuffled around her bag a bit. 

“Here, this is a prototype but I think it might work just fine for now.”

She handed her young friend a pair of specs with a thick, black frame and a small deep red pebble in the middle. 

“Same principle as the bracelet,” she smiled and left the living room. 

Dean saw everything that happened and when the frame changed colors he finally spoke up with his husky voice.

“What?”

“Oh, Myriam-noona made this bracelets for us. Each color is a different language. I'm talking in Korean but because of the spell in it, you can understand me and I can understand you all,” he smiled. “I didn’t know she was working on the glasses. They’re so cool.”

“So that means…?” Dean insisted.

Tae looked down at the paper.

“WHOA! I CAN READ THIS!”

“For real?” Dean was honestly impressed. 

“Yeah.”

“So, do they work like google translate or what?”

“Um… no. I still see your alphabet but now I can, just, understand it. Wish I had these during my English tests back in school.”

“Heh, wouldn’t that have been something?” Dean side smiled and went back to his file. 

Tae hyped a bit so he began reading his first file. It was a bit dull to be honest. Having that many details and written in such a boring way. Too technical and next to no emotion to the words but he had volunteered to help so he kept going. 

Both Dean and Taehyung were almost done with their first dossiers when Charlie approached them. 

“Here, this is what the tattoo looked like.”

Dean took it and Tae stretched his neck to see. It looked like a two headed eagle with a shield drawn on their belly.

“The douche clan. Got it,” Dean assured. 

“So, do we keep on reading or do we just look for this?” Tae asked innocently.

The older man looked at him for a second. Then responded with a soft, warm smile.

“I think we can skip most of the reading. Come on.”

With the new piece of information, they went faster through the files. Just a few minutes later and Tae bounced in excitement. 

“FOUND IT!”

“Really?” Sam asked from the bedroom. 

“Let me see that,” Dean gently took the file from the boy’s hands.

Tae got up and sat right next to Dean, looking at the file from the side. His eyes widened.

“Well? What does it say?” Myriam asked.

“The Styne family,” Dean shared after a minute or two of quick reading. “Man, this guys are all kinds of wrong.”

“Why? What does it say?” Sam repeated. 

“This is a multi-generational, centuries-old wrong. Don’t know exactly how back this files go but says here they used spells to create disease, to destabilize markets,” he paused while he kept reading. “Son of a bitch. They even helped the Nazis before they came into power? Geez.”

There was a short silence until Dean read out loud. 

“All the spells came from a book of ‘Unspeakable Evil’,” he sighed while closing the file. 

Myriam took the dossier from his hands to read it herself.

“Okay, so they’re bad. So what? We’ve face worse,” Sam replied in a serious tone. 

“Sam, read the file. The way the book works is when you use it, there is a negative reaction. I'm talking biblical negative. Dark magic always comes with a price. We know that. We’ve been down that road before,” Dean countered.

Myriam’s eyes scanned the documents with a great speed as she tried to follow Dean’s trail of thought. 

“Well, let’s at least translate it, see what it says,” Charlie said. 

“Yeah, so far we’ve figured the book is written in an obscure Sumerian dialect and Sam even found a rough match for it in one of the books you brought,” Myriam added. “Of course it’s never that easy and we just realized it’s written in code but, we’re working on it.”

Sam and Charlie nodded agreeing with the witch.

“You guys don’t understand,” Dean’s voice shook for a moment at the end of that sentence. “The book’s been calling out to me ever since I laid eyes on it, okay? Calling out to the mark. I can hear it like it’s alive. It wants me to use it, but not for good.”

Silence. 

“Look, I wanted it to be the answer too, okay? I really did,” Dean kept going. “But we have got to get rid of that. Burn it, bury it, I don’t give a damn. We’ll just have to find another way to fix the mark.”

He was completely resolute. 

“Like what?” Sam responded in a challenging way.

He wasn’t going to let it go that easily. 

“I don’t know.”

“So you’re giving up?” Charlie wondered.

“No, I'm not giving up,” Dean stated as if it were obvious. “Charlie, I don’t have a death wish. Ok, even if I did, I can’t die, not with this thing on my arm. But what I can do is fight it as long as I can until…”

“Until what?” Sam countered, the tension ever growing. “Tell me. Until what, Dean? Until I watch you become a demon again? Until then? I can’t do that. I won't do that.”

“Well, then you’ll just have to lock me up. Bind me to the bunker like you did last time,” Dean answered in a much calm but sadder tone. 

Sam looked distraught. 

“That doesn’t solve anything,” Charlie interceded. 

“Last time was a disaster. We barely made it and it took all of us to actually contain you. That is something we can’t rely on right now,” Myriam pointed out.

“Look, just let us translate the book, okay? If there’s a cure, we’ll do it and deal with the consequences later. I can’t lose you,” Sam sentenced. 

“Really?” Dean asked in a hushed voice but with a sarcastic tone. 

“Yeah really,” his brother assured. 

“You change your mind on that, ‘cause that’s not what you said last time.”

“Oh, come on, man. You know I didn’t mean that.”

“This is my cross to bear, Sam,” Dean’s volume went up again. “Mine. And that book is not the answer. Now, we got to destroy it before it falls into the wrong hands and that includes me.”

Dean’s face denoted so much pain, sadness and deception at this point but there was a strong resolution about his words. He was upset and he clearly was having a hard time to keep it together. 

“Dean-nim?” Tae finally spoke in a tiny voice, grabbing the man’s sleeve. 

He looked like a child doing that and Dean could barely make eye contact. 

“I’m gonna go for a drive,” he finally stated getting free of Tae’s hold softly. “Uh, we forgot to pick up snacks for you dorks.”

“Dean, look…” Sam tried to say.

“We’ll figure out another way,” Dean promised. “And, Sam, I’ll get my vacation. But not today. Not like this.”

Everyone stood by as the door closed lightly behind the cursed man. 

“Sam. Maybe he’s right,” Charlie tried to reason with the younger Winchester. 

“No. No, there’s a way to fix it. There has to be.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there. I'm sorry for the late update. Today in Mexico we got a holiday so I got over confident and didn't finish this chap on time for Saturday but here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

Taehyung remained on his seat for a while, unsure. He didn’t know what to think or how to feel. He had just met them but he felt like he had known them for ages. Ever since Myriam had opened up about her story, he had taken an interest in the brothers and actually meeting them felt unearthly. Dean had been so nice to him and Sam was clearly a devoted little brother. 

The Korean understood early on in Myriam’s narrations that drama tended to follow the Winchesters like bees to honey but actually seeing it develop in front of his eyes was, somehow, much more devastating. To see those two argue for real made all the arguments he had ever had with anyone look like childish quarrels. Of course the stuff he argued was sometimes important to him but this, this was a level of its own. 

On one hand, they were talking about one of them potentially becoming a powerful demon (again) and, if he understood correctly, turn his back to his family. This was sad on its own accord but then he had to understand what being a demon really meant. Dean would probably become a sort of serial killer (an unstoppable one) and the struggles the Knight of Hell could put humanity through escaped the young one’s imagination. 

On the other, Sam was trying to reverse it by using a very wild card. The Book of the Damned was not only dangerous but whatever consequence could result of using it sounded very dangerous too. Dean had expressed how wrong it would be to use it but, like Sam said, what else could they do? Myriam had also pointed it out, their options were very limited and coming up with an alternative might take up too much time. Time they didn’t have. 

On top of it, something had happened that made Sam angry and now Dean was bringing it up. By the sounds of it, it was definitely something that had cut him deeper than any knife. Yet, he didn’t feel like it was his place to ask anything about it so he just huddled up on his seat as the others kept working. 

Myriam put the book away in an iron box that the guys brought and joined Sam and Charlie into trying to decrypt the pages they had translated to far. She checked her watch constantly. Tae guessed it had to do with him. 

“Taetae, I think you should shower now. I’ll deliver you home as soon as you’re out,” Myriam announced after some time. 

“What? But Dean isn’t back yet,” he retorted. 

“I’ll make sure you see him again but if I don’t get you home soon, I’ll be late to work. Remember I still have to recharge to go back myself,” she pointed out. 

“Oh,” was all he said and walked to the bathroom obediently. 

They all listened as the young man started shower and focused on their task again. That is, until Charlie closed her laptop abruptly. 

“What did Dean mean?” she asked. 

The man doubted for a moment.

“When he said you changed your mind?” she elaborated.

Sam listened to the question and smiled sadly before answering.

“So, a while back, we had a chance to, um… close the Gates of Hell. And in order to do that, I would’ve had to die, and I was ok with that and I'm ok with that but Dean was not. And so he, uh…” Sam was a bit lost for words.

“He saved you,” Charlie completed the idea. 

“Yeah, he saved me.”

“And let me guess, in doing so, he did something you didn’t want and that pissed you off. And you said something that hurt him?” Charlie figured. 

Sam smiled again, remembering that day.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” 

“Brothers,” Charlie said in tired voice as she stood up to get some water. “You know, I haven’t been a hunter for very long, but it feels like this is a life. Mostly ends in Sophie’s choices, death or tears. Usually all of the above, huh?”

Both Myriam and Sam exchanged a look of understanding. 

“How did this become my life? I mean, I was gonna own my own start-up, marry ScarJo, invent something cool. Now I'm just, happy to be alive,” Charlie shared.

“You know, when Dean came to get me at school, I-I told myself: one last job, you know? One more job. And then when… when I, um… when I lost Jess, I, again, told myself, one more job. There was always one more job, you know. And one more job and one more job, and, then I was gonna go back to law and… and to my life,” Sam began saying. 

“You were, the dread pirate Roberts of hunting,” the redhead commented. 

“Yeah,” he huffed a bit. “I guess I really understand now that… this is my life. I love it. But I can’t do it without my brother. I don’t want to do it without my brother. And if he’s gone then I don’t…”

He couldn’t go on. 

Taehyung listened with teary eyes from the bathroom. For a moment he thought about what Sam had just said. Even if Sam’s life was hard and full of obstacles, he loved it, just like him. And even if he could keep working after his brother was gone, he didn’t want to, just like him as well. Tae couldn’t possibly picture his life without his hyungs and Jungkookie. They were his best friends, his family and Sam’s words touched a very special fiber of his heart. He couldn’t keep quiet any longer. 

“Sam-nim.” 

The older man turned to him. Tae had so many things he wanted to say but the knot in his throat didn’t let him. Therefore he did the next best thing. He walked back to the living room and embraced Sam’s head. His tears rolled down his cheeks without control. 

“D-Dean-nim… he’ll get better,” Tae finally blurted out. “W-we will help him.”

Sam was a bit taken aback but he didn’t push the boy away. Instead, he patted his arm lightly, giving in to the contact, feeling as Tae’s tears mixed with the water drops of his hair. 

“You were listening?” Myriam asked softly.

“I-I didn’t mean to. I-I had just turned off the w-water and I heard you guys,” Tae whimpered, letting go of Sam and trying to wipe away his tears. 

Sam stood up and caressed his head.

“Hey, it’s ok. Really. I know this is a terrible first impression but I can assure you we’re not like this all the time,” Sam apologized. 

“ _Sniff_ , it’s ok. It’s ok to get angry even with those you love the most,” Tae assured. “I think that is why it hurts more, because you care about them and wished that had never happened.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Sam-nim.”

“Hm?”

“Wh-what kind of vacation d-does Dean want?” Tae asked still sobbing a bit. 

The question struck Charlie and Sam as a bit odd but Myriam, knowing the boy for longer knew that this was just the kind of person Tae was. He would file this information away until he was able to do something about it on his own. Myriam smiled as she lowered her head. 

“Well,” Sam took a deep breath while he remembered his brother’s words. “He says he wants us to go to the beach. Stay at a nice hotel and just, uhm, forget about everything for a while. Just, chill, you know.”

“The beach is nice,” Taetae commented. “D-does he have a b-beach in mind?”

“Mmm, nah, I don’t think so. I think it would just be nice to go to a beach for once. Just, once would be enough,” Sam answered. 

“S-so you’ve never been to the beach? Really?” Taetae was really surprised. 

“You would think that, at some point, our job would take us there but, I guess we were all wrong,” Sam joked lightly.

“I promise I’ll make sure you go to the beach one day. You’ll stay at a very nice and fancy hotel where you get lots of food and are spoiled all day long,” Taehyung said unwavering. “You guys deserve it.”

Sam wasn’t sure if Tae was serious or just making a childish promise so he simply smiled and thanked the younger one for his words. Myriam got closer to Tae and handed him a glass bottle.

“You ready to go back?”

“Uhm… yeah.”

“Ok, I’ll open the portal but I got something to tell you first. When you get home, eat something and then take a spoonful of this. It’s a special potion. Made it for you guys a couple of hours ago. It should give you enough energy to get through the day. I would appreciate if you shared the instructions with the others. Please, please, please, make sure they all eat something before taking this. Else it could cause more pain than good. Understood?” Myriam indicated.

Tae nodded. 

“Right,” she breathed and made the cut on her palm again to create the sigil.

“Well, I think that’s it for today,” Charlie joked. 

“Charlie-noona, please take care of yourself. A bullet wound is dangerous,” he said as he took her hands. 

“I know, I know. Good thing we have Myriam. See for yourself,” she lifted her shirt. 

There was nothing left there, not even a scar.

“Wow! She did that?” Tae was mesmerized. “Still, be careful, ok?”

“Promise.”

She hugged him tightly. She was sure he would grow up to become a great man one day. 

“Can I have your number noona?” Taehyung asked as he handed over his phone. “So that I can see into the tickets’ thing.”

“Heh, sure thing,” she assured. “There, all set.”

“Thanks,” he turned to Sam again. “I’ll see you soon I hope.”

“Yeah,” Sam answered.

“I’m sure that by then, Dean will be better. I'm certain. You got this. Fighting!” Tae assured in an excited tone. “And tell him I said ‘bye’ please.”

“Sure thing,” the younger Winchester assured. 

Tae hugged him again. Sam was so tall. 

“Taetae, it’s open now,” Myriam interrupted. 

Taehyung let go of his new friend, sighed, waved goodbye again and walked towards the mirror. 

“I’ll be right behind you. By the time you get to work, I’ll be back. I promise,” Myriam assured. 

The Korean smiled and nodded. Then he touched the mirror and was gone. 

For some reason, there was a small, collective sigh among those that remained. It wasn’t that they didn’t like the boy but they all silently agreed that he would be far safer where he had gone that right at that place with them. Therefore, they kept diligently working, waiting for Dean to come back. 

Taehyung on his part stumbled on the other side. Apparently, either Jimin or Hobi had moved the mirror into their bedroom. With the three of them sharing the space it made sense so he brushed it off. He silently got up and went to the closet to get changed. He was clean alright but his clothes had gotten quite dirty. He didn’t even bother to turn on the lights.

As he undressed, he began thinking about everything that had happened in the last few hours. It certainly had been an exhilarating, though dangerous, experience. He was glad he had met Charlie, she had been so sweet to him. He had imagined her to be a bit shier (if he considered his previous concept of genius/hacker to be any guide) but turned out to be quite a straight forward girl with a bubbly personality and very resourceful even without technology at her disposal. 

The brothers, on the other hand, were a lot more like what he had imagined. As Myriam had described, they had quite an aura around them that, at least to him, evoked respect. Age aside, their whole body language simply screamed “don’t mess with us” and, at the same time, it also said “we’ll keep you safe”. It was an interesting dichotomy of their characters that only brought truth to the witch’s words. All in all, Tae concluded he liked them too. He really wanted to know them better and he hoped he would one day be able to help them. 

He had just finished getting changed when the alarm went off. He waited until he saw Hobi’s arm stretching to get the phone. Jimin groaned a little but otherwise remained unmoving. The sound was stopped and Tae could hear the shuffling of sheets from Hobi’s bed. A devious smile formed on his lips.

“HYUNG!” Tae yelled happily as he threw himself on top of Jimin’s body.

“AAAH!” Hobi shrieked and fell from his bed. 

That had woken him up completely, his heart was racing and his hands shook. 

“What’s wrong?!” Namjoon came in dashing through the door and turning on the lights. 

The leader froze as he saw Taehyung on top of Jimin. Hobi, still adjusting to the sudden change of light, stood up. Jimin on his part opened up his eyes and moved his friend off of him.

“Taehyung-ah!” Jimin said loudly as he got up. “How…? When…? Why…?”

“I’m sorry,” Tae bowed. “I'm home now.”

“Don’t do that ever again,” Jimin punched him on the shoulder. “You’ve got any idea how worried we were?”

“Yes,” Tae responded, head still low and now rubbing his shoulder. 

“Jimin is right. You can’t just do that kind of stuff. It’s dangerous,” Namjoon scolded him too. 

Right about then, both Yoongi and Jin got in as well. 

“Oi! Kim Taehyung!” Jin began.

Tae prepared for the worst. 

“You can’t just run towards danger. You need to be more careful. What if something had happened to you? Aish.” 

Pause. 

“Have you eaten?” the eldest asked. 

That took Tae by surprise. 

“I-I…” in the end Tae was only able to shake his head. “N-noona said she would be here as soon as she can and she gave me this.”

He went to retrieve the bottle from the closet. 

“Said we need to eat something before taking a spoonful of this. It should give us energy the whole day,” he repeated the instructions. 

“Have you taken it?” Jin asked. 

Tae shook his head again. Jin sighed. 

“Come then. We’ll make something quick. Yoongi, you taking a shower before getting ready?” Jin asked his roommate. 

“Don’t think so. I’ll just change,” Yoongi answered. 

“Ok.”

“We’ll hurry. We want to hear all about it, so don’t spoil anything before we’re all at the table, ok?” Namjoon instructed Tae.

“Sure. You won’t believe it,” said member smiled.

With all this settled, they all hurried in order to hear what Tae had to say. They still needed to eat up and the van would soon come to pick them all up. It took them half an hour to be presentable. They knew they would still have to go through hair and makeup before the filming started so the look they had chosen would do for the time being. 

Jin was the last to join. He had been making a quick breakfast consisting mainly on rice and veggies and had been relieved by Yoongi once the second oldest was ready. Yoongi finished up with the breakfast as the others began sitting at the table. He placed the pots in the middle and they all dug in. 

“Ok, spit it out,” Yoongi told Tae. 

Everyone looked at Taehyung silently while eating. 

“Ok, well, first I landed on top of Charlie by accident. She smiled and said it was fine but I could see she was in pain. I gave her the balm and watched how it didn’t work, not entirely. The bleeding stopped but the holes didn’t disappear. I was a bit,… disappointed to be honest but there was nothing we could do about it. Then she took me to a park and told me we should go our separate ways for my own safety but as we were walking out, the car that had been following her spotted us, so I guess she figured that if that man saw me with her it would made me a target. So we ran. 

“We hid behind some big trash bins but she began bleeding again because of the effort it took her. So I bought some bandages and clothes for her so people wouldn’t see her bloody shirt. Then we went for lunch and then we walked to a gas station where Myriam was supposed to come and join us. You all know how that went. 

“After Myriam came through, she shot the guy following Charlie on the legs and we escaped using his car. Then she drove us to this cabin in the middle of the woods and I fell asleep. It was then that the best thing happened, I…”

“She actually shot the guy?” Hobi inquired, interrupting the story. 

“Yeah. Twice actually. One bullet per leg. I'm not sure if she only did that because I was there or because that’s her style. Dean-nim seemed surprised by that too when…”

“DEAN? As in: Dean Winchester?” Hobi intervened again.

“Oh, I spoiled it,” Tae lamented. “But, yes, I got to meet them. Noona woke me up and there they were.”

“For real?” Jungkook inquired with stars in his eyes.

“Mmhm,” Tae assured with a smile on his face.

“What are they like?” Jimin asked, suddenly forgetting his anger. 

“They are great. Dean-nim is amazing and Sam-nim is good younger brother,” he summarized. 

“Were you able to cure him?” Jungkook went on with his interrogation. 

“No,” Tae answered sadly. “The book is written in code so they weren’t able to read the spells. Charlie-noona, Sam-nim and noona want to translate it to help Dean-nim but he wants them to destroy the book.”

“WHAT?” Jin erupted. “Wasn’t that like, the only way to help him?”

“They told him that but Dean-nim says the book is too evil. That if he uses it, the consequences would be too great. He said he felt the book calling out to the mark because it wants to be used by him and that is too dangerous, especially if he were to become a demon again,” Taehyung explained.

“Oh, shit,” Hobi said in a low volume. 

“So what are they going to do now?” Namjoon asked. 

“They want to translate it anyways. Even if it’s against Dean-nim’s wishes. Sam-nim… well, he… he really loves his brother,” was all Tae could say.

There was a small silence in the place. They all thought this was such a difficult situation but really couldn’t either understand nor meddle with the issue. The only one that knew the guys was Tae and the others had nothing but words to go on about these men’s lives. Would they do that for their own siblings? Would they go as far as selling their souls for them? It was a very complicated question without having gone through everything the Winchesters had had to endure. 

Such was their concentration that they jumped a bit when Namjoon’s phone rang. The text read:

_**Be there in 5 minutes. -Sejin** _

“Oh, no. Sejin-ssi is almost here,” Namjoon alerted. 

Everyone struggled to finish their meal and get their plates to the sink. Then they hurried to clean their teeth and were about to file out when Taehyung reminded them of the potion. Everyone looked at Namjoon a bit expectantly. Should they do it? They were awfully tired for sure but, was this safe? Of course, if it was Myriam-noona who gave them the potion it was most likely safe.

The leader was still doubting but before he could even move, Tae was back from the kitchen with six spoons in his hand and one already in his mouth.

“Mm, it doesn’t taste that bad,” he said handing out the spoons. 

A second later he felt a spark rush from his stomach to the rest of his body. Suddenly the fatigue and tiredness was gone. He even felt ready to run a marathon if PD-nim asked them to. 

“Oh my God! This feels great,” he said beginning to jump excitedly. “It’s even better than an energy drink.”

Hobi and Namjoon looked at him a bit worried. Jin and Yoongi laughed at the boy as they saw Tae jump up and down. Jungkook and Jimin seemed to like the idea and they took the potion next. 

Jimin opened up his eyes as wide as he could. 

“Oh my God!” he said as well and joined Tae in his little hopping. 

Jin and Yoongi looked at each other and embraced the idea too. They trusted Myriam and it simply looked too fun not to try it. 

“Wow! I can feel the energy rush! This is great!” Jin offered. 

Jungkook approached him jumping and Jin simply followed along. Yoongi smiled. 

“You taking it?” he asked the two remaining members. 

“Well, the hell with it,” Namjoon said, served his spoon and took it. “Whoa! I feel like I can run up and down a mountain.”

He laughed. 

Hobi looked at them all. He wanted to join but felt a bit unsure. Was it really ok for them to rely this much in magic and potions? Only time would tell because that day he was just too tired to argue with anyone, specially himself.

He took the spoonful. 

Best decision of the day.


End file.
